Another victory of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association: a member of the USBA received funding from USAID for equipping a bull-feeding complex

On October 2, 2018, an agricultural servicing cooperative - Byky Cherkashchyny ASC, which is located in the village of Tsybuliv, Monastyrýshche district, Cherkasy region and is a member of the USBA, signed an agreement with USAID (US Agency for International Development) to provide funding to engage in fattening calves, taken from the public.

Under the program, which provides for an agreement, USAID will provide funds for the reimbursement of 50% of the cost of equipment for the new complex for feeding cattle of the Byky Cherkashchyny ASC for 3,000 heads.

Fattening will be profitable and will help increase the number of cattle

The essence of the cooperative’s work under the project with the support of USAID Agrarian and rural development support is as follows: the peasants, members of the Byky Cherkashchyny ASC, will donate bull-calves born of cows to the fattening complex, and the cooperative will fully bear all the costs and efforts to breed them. In this case, the bull stays in the ownership of the owner and returns to him after the end of fattening, and the peasant reimburses the cost of feed to the cooperative. Thus, fattening on a centralized complex equipped with modern equipment using advanced feeding methods will significantly reduce the cost and simplify the cultivation of bulls, and the peasants will have an obvious benefit.

“On the other hand, the creation of such a fattening complex will also help in solving a global problem at the state level - reducing the number of cattle, which has been permanently observed in recent years, says the head of the USBA, Iryna Palamar. - After all, today it is not profitable for the peasants to fatten the bulls on their own, this is very expensive, and so they slaughter them at a young age, giving them up for meat.

Assistance in fattening will help increase the number of cattle in the whole country and increase the export of Ukrainian beef. ”

Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association’s support

This donor financing of the cooperative was won thanks to the support of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association, which became the initiator of this project, and the whole long way from the idea to its implementation actively accompanied all the preparatory stages prior to the signing of the agreement.

In particular, back in March 2018, the USBA, together with other agrarian organizations, discussed the business model for fattening young cattle purchased from private farms, which was prepared by experts from the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project. According to the results of the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project, an open competition was announced for obtaining donor funding for fattening calves.

The team of the agricultural service cooperative — Byky Cherkashchyny ASC, a member of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association, submitted a corresponding application, after which the troublesome selection stage continued. As a result, the project presented interest to USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project specialists, and they allocated funds for its implementation, which the relevant agreement was signed today.

However, the USBA spoke a lot earlier about the need for a similar project to fatten bulls, at different levels - during participation in sectoral meetings of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, working groups in the Cabinet of Ministers, at round tables and other events where the topic of livestock development was raised.

In particular, back in July 2017, the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association initiated and conducted a round table on the theme “Development of production and export of meat in Ukraine” with the support of the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project, where manufacturers massively complained about the shortage of fattening bulls in Ukraine product for export. It was then that the idea of providing financial support to the peasants for raising cattle was announced, so that they would not give up the youngsters for slaughter.

Also in 2017, the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association developed and submitted to the leadership of the Ministry of AIC Program for the development of cattle breeding, which was also aimed at feeding the bull-calves. Also this program was addressed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groisman and the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv. It is pleasant that the general idea of the Livestock Development Program of the USBA was heard by the authorities, but unfortunately, the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association was not allowed to implement it at the level of preparing the text for using funds, which led to practical difficulties in implementing the government program. Unfortunately, the mechanism of state subsidies was laid out thoughtlessly and with shortcomings, and it is difficult for the peasants to get real money.

“This project, which will be implemented due to the donor support of the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project by Byky Cherkashchyny ASC with the assistance of the USBA, is a new progressive model of support for cattle breeding. We will get a real complex where people can directly hand over calves and receive real money from this without going through many bureaucratic circles, as happens when receiving state aid. Moreover, it is very good that the project will be possible right now, at a convenient time. Indeed, in December-January, there is the highest seasonal birth rate of bulls, so we will have several months just for the purchase of equipment and equipment of the complex,” comments Yana Salmina, coordinator of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association.

Americans support the Ukrainian village

The project, submitted by Byky Cherkashchyny ASC, with the assistance of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association for review by USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project, has received positive feedback from the governing bodies of the US Agency for International Development.

“I support the development of Ukrainian villages, says Patrick Reider, director of the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project, who was directly involved in signing the agreement. - I have been to Cherkasy region a lot, and I am pleased to see how enterprises are created that give development to agriculture and the village as a whole, support the infrastructure of the regions, and the welfare of people.

That is why we decided to provide donor support to this particular project - Byky Cherkashchyny ASC. We see that professionals in their field, who are well versed in all the nuances of growing cattle, have made efforts to create it, approached it thoughtfully, described in detail all the stages of work and the expected results, which I hope will not be slow to show themselves. After 3 months, we intend to visit the fattening complex again and see how the project is put into practice.”

“We are very happy for the members of our Association who managed to get this funding,” summarizes the head of the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association, Iryna Palamar. - Now our task is to successfully implement the project, and show the representatives of USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project that we are reliable partners. Today, we are already in the process of preparing a number of follow-up projects to support livestock producers, and look forward to further fruitful cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development, and primarily with the USAID Agrarian and Rural Development Support project.