As of November 1 of this year, the population's farms contain 2.04 million head of cattle, of which 1.2 million are cows. And they need pastures and hayfields. However, are there enough such areas in our state? And if we talk not just to feed such a number of livestock, but to increase the number of livestock? This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Association for the Development of Livestock and Technology.

Cattle grazing rates

To do this, one should consider the norms for grazing livestock per hectare (they are established by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 23, 2019 No. 970 "On approval of the Procedure (detailed rules) of organic production and circulation of organic products"):

• fattening calves - 5 heads;
• bulls from 12 to 24 months - 3.3 heads;
• heifers - 2.5 heads;
• dairy cows - 2 heads.

A logical question arises whether the existing pastures are enough for the existing livestock population and its increase, because with such grazing rates for the available number of cows alone, about 1 million hectares of pastures are needed.

Availability of pastures in Ukraine

According to the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre at the request of the Ukrainian Association for the Development of Livestock and Technology, Ukraine has 7.54 thousand land plots for pastures with a total area of ​​79.8 thousand hectares.

In particular, 566 plots with a total area of ​​780 hectares in the Kiev region, 439 with an area of ​​2872 hectares in Vinnytsia and 75 with an area of ​​215 hectares in the Ternopil region.

Is there enough pasture?

And now we will superimpose these figures on the number of not just kept livestock, but namely cows, because they are the basis in cattle breeding for subsidiary farms of the population. We get that the aforementioned number of pastures should account for 150 thousand cows, not counting gobies, heifers and calves. And the realities are completely different.

For example, in the Kiev region, given the aforementioned grazing norms, the available amount of pastures can feed 1.56 thousand cows. As of November 1, 2021, households have 21.2 thousand cows.

Let's look at the Vinnytsia region: on the available areas, 5.7 thousand cows can fall, and 85 thousand cows are kept in the households of the population.

In the Ternopil region, the situation is even worse: the pasture resource should be sufficient for 430 cows, and citizens support 72 thousand cows.

These numbers are impressive.

Of course, in the structure of livestock feeding, besides pastures, there are other types of feed. But the peculiarity of the private sector is precisely the emphasis on grazing livestock and making hay, because otherwise, keeping livestock for citizens becomes simply unprofitable.

Attempts to destroy public pastures periodically provoke protests from the population and develop into peasant rallies - as, for example, in the Chernihiv region, in the village of Voznesenskoe in April of this year.

Do not forget that pastures are the basis of small business in the village due to the production of milk and its processing into dairy products, their sale in the markets of the nearest city. And it is the pastures that are the source of potential for the further creation of meat and dairy family farms and cooperatives on the basis of subsidiary peasant farms of the population.

In turn, the decrease in the number of pastures explains why in Ukraine over the past 30 years the number of cattle has been declining by 5-7% annually. And at the same time, it makes it clear why the domestic cattle breeding is especially in dire need of support, attention and urgent measures.

agronews.ua