A meeting dedicated to the problems of farmers in the Bokeyorda, Kaztalov, Zhanibek and Zhangaly districts was held at the West Kazakhstan Region akimat.
According to Ratel.kz, the meeting was attended by the regional akim Nariman Turegaliyev, the akims of 14 districts, and heads of regional departments. No farmers were present at the meeting.
As a reminder, a state of emergency was previously declared in two districts of the West Kazakhstan Region due to a shortage of livestock feed. Farmers in the southern districts of the region stated that this could lead to livestock deaths. According to them, the drought and the increase in the saiga population are to blame.
At the meeting, the head of the West Kazakhstan Region's Department of Agriculture, Zhaslan Khaliullin, reported that there are more than one million head of livestock in the region this year. According to him, approximately 2 million tonnes of hay, 233,000 tonnes of crushed feed, 11,000 tonnes of silage and 9 tonnes of haylage need to be prepared for them.
"We had 148,000 tonnes of hay left from last year. This year, the average hay yield in the region is 3.6 quintals per hectare. A total of 763 tonnes of fodder were collected from 2.1 million hectares of hayfields, giving us a total of 910,000 tonnes of hay. That is 45% of the requirement. Due to the cold spring and the increase in the saiga population in the Bokeyorda and Zhanibek districts, as well as in villages of the Kaztalov district bordering these areas, difficulties are arising with fodder preparation. In these districts, the grass yield is lower – 1.8 quintals per hectare.", reported Zhaslan Khaliullin.
The official believes that since a state of emergency has been declared in these districts, farm owners who keep livestock are entitled to subsidies for purchasing fodder. Incidentally, more than 2 billion tenge was allocated for subsidies for farms in the region. It is reported that the amount has already been approved by the budget commission.
"We plan to organise the purchase of fodder at affordable prices, and we will reimburse the costs of hay delivery. In total, the southern districts of the region need 41,600 tonnes of hay; according to our calculations, this will require 798 million tenge. In the Bokeyorda and Zhanibek districts, hay will be brought in from other districts of the region, and in the Kaztalov and Zhangaly districts, hay will come from both other districts and within the district itself. Additionally, forestry enterprises will prepare 1,000 tonnes of hay each for the farms. Overall, when preparing fodder, we can only use the reserves of our region.", said Zhaslan Khaliullin.
At the same time, he said the department had reached an agreement with Kubley LLP, a meat processing plant, to start accepting livestock two months earlier than scheduled. As it became known, 1,567 head of cattle, 4,435 sheep and 105 horses have been slaughtered at the plant since 24 June.
In turn, the akim of the Zhanibek district, Timur Shiniyazov, stated that they are currently planning to organise wholesale purchases of hay in his district, as retail purchases are expensive.
"We need 300,000 rolls of hay. We are negotiating with neighbouring districts and buying gradually. Kamaz trucks and long vehicles are running now; they are asking for 400,000 tenge per trip to bring 50 tonnes of feed. If you divide that per roll, 8,000 tenge alone goes on transport, because that covers diesel and the driver's salary. It's not profitable; people say it's better to buy it wholesale. Now they have started to bring hay at 10,000-12,000 tenge per roll.", the report states.
At the same time, he spoke about negotiations with the authorities of the Pallasovsky district of the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation, which borders the West Kazakhstan Region.
"They have one roll of hay for 2,500 roubles, which is 13,000 tenge. But when it crosses the border, VAT is paid at two customs points, there are transport costs, and it ends up being 18,000 tenge per roll. So it's easier for us to buy it here. We do bring crushed feed from Russia; we have already imported 85 tonnes.", said Timur Shiniyazov.
In turn, the regional akim, Nariman Turegaliyev, believes that villagers need to prepare for the fact that some of their livestock will be slaughtered this year.
"If everything turns out expensive and unprofitable, let them sell the excess livestock, otherwise they will be left in winter with neither feed nor livestock. We need to work with the people, go door-to-door, ask – how much livestock do you have, how much feed can you prepare. Let them send their livestock for slaughter and set aside the money; they can buy more next year with that money. We need to work with every rural district and do everything promptly. Yes, hay is expensive at 18,000 tenge, but take it, buy it, what else can be done? As it is, they don't want to lose their livestock, and they don't want to buy expensive hay. That's not acceptable. They need to make a choice.", said Nariman Turegaliyev.
Summing up, the head of the region instructed to continue the work of preparing hay in the shortest possible time, and also instructed the land relations department to conduct an inspection of all agricultural land.
According to him, some farmers, not owning their own livestock, only use the land for planting fodder crops, thereby profiting during the winter preparation season.