Farmers of the Vitebsk district are making up for lost time on the harvest due to rain.
Everything possible is being done to save time and harvest the golden crop as efficiently as possible. Our correspondents witnessed this in the field of the M. F. Shmyryov Agricultural Complex of the Vitebsk Broiler Poultry Factory, located near the village of Ivankovo.
The director of the agricultural complex, Alexey Doylin, reported that all 12 combines available to the farm are harvesting winter wheat over an area of 250 hectares. The manager stated that considering the adjustments made by the rainy weather, they are implementing an algorithm that allows them to make up for lost time.
In particular, they are repairing equipment on-site, refueling the combines with fuel, and leaving them in the field overnight under reliable security.
Chief agronomist Maria Krupenko proudly announced that the yield this year is about 76 centners per hectare, which is approximately twice (!) as high as last year. Among the six varieties of winter wheat, there are two domestic, two German, one Austrian, and one Polish (with the cute name "Marquise").
In total, they need to harvest grain from approximately 4220 hectares. By the time of our arrival, they had harvested less than 10 percent.
At the same time, they are preparing the land for the future sowing of winter crops for the year 2026.
Among the participants in the harvest is a family team: senior combine operator Andrey Prudnikov and his son, combine operator Alexander Ershov. The manager is confident that the experienced mechanic will be one of the first to reach a thousand tons.
And 23-year-old Ilya Evdokimov is driving a combine for the first time during this harvest. He has shown himself excellently as a driver and tractor operator during the sowing season, so he was entrusted with managing the "ship of the fields".
While we were talking to the participants of the harvest, a mobile canteen arrived at the field. The buffet worker Daria Pisareva was serving delicious borscht, scooping millet porridge and pork cutlet onto plates. The apple compote also delighted the harvesters, who received a dry ration for the evening. And the mechanizers saved time during the lunch break, so there was no time for a feast. They quickly had a snack and rushed back to the fight for the harvest, fully aware that all hope rests on them and they will not let anyone down. They proudly showed the inscription on their branded T-shirts "Nobody but us!" -- just like the paratroopers. They work by this principle. And they are also for our safety – food security.
Supporting the agrarians are workers from the Surazh Forestry of the Vitebsk region. For example, driver of logging equipment Andrey Artemenko is involved in the current harvest as a tractor driver. Forester Yuri Bekeshev also took the wheel of a combine. In total, six representatives of the forestry are helping the agrarians.