After the start of the full-scale war, the dairy farm LLC "Ponory" in the Chernihiv region suffered significant losses. Due to the inability to sell milk, declining productivity, and forced culling of cows, the enterprise lost about UAH 17 million. Despite this, the farm continued to operate and restore production. Today, 504 milking cows are kept here, and the farm provides over 80 jobs in the community.
The farm specializes in milk production and breeding of pedigreed Holstein heifers, holding the status of a breeding nucleus farm. In daily operations, they are constantly looking for ways to develop and reserves that allow for increasing production efficiency. One such reserve was identified during a comprehensive audit within the framework of a support project for small and medium-sized commercial dairy farms, which the Ukrainian Agrari Council and the Advisory Center of the Association of Milk Producers are implementing in partnership with the international humanitarian organization Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps).
During the audit, AMP Advisory Center consultant Oleksandr Nazarko, General Director of Global Agro Finance, drew attention to the organization of feed mixing. He discovered that due to an insufficient number of knives in the mixer wagon, the grass silage was not properly chopped: excessively long particles entered the TMR, and the ration components were mixed unevenly. The farm equipped the mixer wagon with the necessary number of knives, and the result was reflected in the milk indicators.
"On the expert's advice, we equipped the mixer wagon with knives without major expenses. After that, the milk fat content increased from 3.65–3.7% to 4.0–4.1%, and protein from 3.25% to 3.38%. For us, this is a good example of how a seemingly small change in technology can yield a tangible result," says Kostiantyn, the farm's deputy director for livestock farming.
The story of the farm demonstrates the practical value of a detailed audit: a timely identified technological reserve can yield a tangible production and economic effect. In this case — without significant capital investments.
Reference:
Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps) is an international humanitarian organization operating in 35+ countries worldwide, providing assistance to people affected by disasters, wars, poverty, and the impacts of climate change.
Press service of the Association of Milk Producers
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