BOVKUN, Ukraine - For someone entering the roofed paddock of AIS dairy farm, it might seem that the nearly 1,000 cows are left to themselves. Unless it's feeding or cleaning time, or if a cow needs help, workers are hardly visible. Even for milking, the cows just line up in front of the special hall without human direction.
This is how the family-owned AgroDom holding produces high-quality natural milk alongside modern equipment imported from the United States with pedigreed Austrian and German cow breeds.
“We try not to interfere with the natural flow of things,” chief farm veterinarian Andriy Fulmes told the Kyiv Post. “Cows like stability. Change of place, milking time, change of food – it’s all stressful for them.”
The farm started as a bet that Georgy Lozhenko made with his friend 12 years ago. Having worked in tourism and the lottery business, Lozhenko set out to prove that he could make money in agriculture. He bought a small ox-breeding farm and in two years he also took over the Shupyky state collective cow farm that was on the edge of bankruptcy. He introduced newer technologies and bought the farm out some time later.
Milkers prepare cows for milking at AIS farm on Oct.13. This job is done exclusively by men at the farm as owners consider it to be too hard for women. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Despite the current economic recession and political tension in the country, the family business keeps growing.
The holding currently leases 2,200 hectares of land and owns some 1,200 cows in Shupyky and AIS, and the Dooobra Ferma goat farm and dairy plant. Depending on the season, the group employs about 100 people. Milk production is still the most profitable part of the business, managed by Andriy Polosenko, Lozhenko’s son-in-law, bringing in some Hr 24 million ($1.1 million) a year in revenues.
French-owned Zveni Gora cheese plant appreciates the milk quality so much that it buys up to 90 percent of all produce or over 10 tons daily.
“We love animals. In our family we have a special attitude to all living creatures. And we saw that this could be a prospective business because there is huge milk deficit in Ukraine and this market has huge potential,” Polosenko, 34, told the Kyiv Post.
Since Ukraine gained independence in late 1991, milk production has shrunk by more than half, from 24.5 million tons in 1990 to 11.3 last year.
The organic food segment also shows room for growth with €15 million worth of organic produce being produced last year, about €3 million more than in 2013. Lozhenko’s son Taras Lozhenko, who is a designer advertising firm owner, also got involved by establishing a goat farm with dairy production three years ago.
Stores that imported European cheeses before the hryvnia lost more than 50 percent of its value versus the dollar and prices tripled since 2014 started to look for local substitutes. “And this is where we got in on the ground floor, our cheeses were highly rated by savvy consumers,” Taras Lozhenko said.
All the cheese is handmade, most of it made to order by individual clients and supermarket chains like Silpo, Auchan and cheese and wine store GoodWine. It takes around seven liters of milk to make one kilogram of cheese. Some cheeses take from one day up to two years to make.
The dairy currently is at full capacity, producing up to 60 kilograms of cheese per day. To meet growing demand, Taras Lozhenko is building additional facilities, with plans to invest €250,000 by mid-2016.
Taras Lozhenko is confident he’ll obtain an organic certificate because the farm uses only natural ingredients while the cattle eat crops that are grown on the farm using manure as the only fertilizer.
“It’s not a super lucrative business, but a very stable one. Unlike crop growing, we do not depend on the harvest and can manage (our) yearly milk output,” he said.
Located in Ivky village, Kyiv Oblast, Dooobra Ferma cooperates with local farmers. Selling in bulk brings in higher profits. Currently, villagers sell their milk to the plants at Hr 2 per liter, while AgroDom’s contract with Zveni Gora sets the price at Hr 5.
| Taras Lozhenko’s keys to success and challenges for small farmers:It’s hard to get:Reliable workers not prone to stealing and drinking High quality, well-bred animals Accounting to be done professionally To succeed: Study the subject thoroughly |
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Gordiienko can be reached at [email protected]
