Belarus: A surprise in the East

• The land gives a clean and tidy impression, not only in the capital Minsk and along the most important highways, but countrywide.
• All machinery on the farms is clean and well-maintained. There are no piles of scrap in farmyards as can be seen in Ukraine, for example.
• In the fields, every corner is cultivated and sown. All the arable land is in maximum production, an aspect that is especially different from the situation in Russia.

Along the lines of the old soviet system, about 90 % of the land is farmed by agricultural collectives, with only a small proportion tenanted by private farmers. The agricultural collectives give their workers individual parcels of land around the villages for growing potatoes, cabbages and pumpkins, etc. to supply their own kitchens.

• Population. 9.5 million
• Arable land: 5.6 m ha
• Pasture: 3.2 m ha
• Pigs: 3 m
• Dairy cattle: 1.5 m
• Average lactation: 6500 l
• Wheat yield: 5.5 – 6.5 t/ha
• Triticale yield: 6.5 – 7 t/ha
• Sugar beet: 45 to max. 50 t/ha
• Forage maize: approx. 35 t/ha
• Exports:  potash, weapons, engineering, electronic equipment (below western standards but robust and very suitable for Africa and India), dairy products.

A further advantage is important, especially for Eastern Europe: less available liquid cash means no corruption, at any rate no discernible palm smearing. All cash flows from Minsk and flows back there again. Nor does it then disappear into the pockets of a few super rich. This is in complete contrast to Ukraine or Russia, where the main cities live at the expense of the hinterlands and nothing is invested in rural areas. In Belarus, on the other hand, even outlying road networks are in very good condition and well cared for. New hospitals and schools are built and continuously maintained, not only in Brest or Minsk, but also in the smaller towns and villages. In the same way, there are plenty of well-developed sports stadia, velodromes and ice rinks (ice hockey being a national sport) and swimming pools too. Social requirements are covered 100 % by the state. Health and ambulance/rescue services and school buses that collect every child in the furthest rural corners, one can speak almost of exemplary socialism.

In general, houses and flats are also state owned, although in special suburbs around Minsk and other large population centres, private homes are being developed. Incomes on average are about a third of those in the West. Internet access, telephones, new cars, tablets or mobile ‘phones – all exist and are available not only in the big cities, but also out on the land. The costs of energy and rent are very reasonable.

Basically, farms have access to all machinery, seed, plant protection materials and fertilisers. Foreign seed is also available although imports require a licence. The authorities in Minsk ask farms to apply for such imports. This restricts imports to a certain extent with the consequence that farms order more, knowing that what they might get in the end might cover their initial requirements. In other words, to get 80 % of a required import, 125 % of requirement might be ordered.

 The farms themselves produce very efficiently overall. Naturally this depends, as in every other business, on who’s in charge. But the businesses tend to be structured for efficiency. The unit of measurement in crop production is not, for instance, t/ha of wheat but instead an amount based on feed requirement, or the requirement of the farm bakery. The end product, not an intermediate crop, is fundamental to organisation. In other words, the milk, meat or pasta sales. On the other hand, productivity in the individual sectors could indeed be higher. But this is compensated for by the state being in the position to manage the output. The efficiency losses compared with specialised production with its cash flow advantages stand against the advantages of smoother marketing through the state. In Belarus, no farm has to seek a market, and none has to fear marketing risk.

Despite the state-guaranteed good living standard for everyone, Belarus remains a two-class society with manual workers and those in »white collar« professions. Hereby, education standard for the workers is fairly poor while the professional classes are theoretically well educated. In agriculture, this means administration is by academics who regard themselves as higher up the social scale and who cannot, or will not, apply hands-on management, but tend to give their orders out of the car window. The young agronomist with a career path ahead to leading agronomist and finally to chief agronomist (titles play a great role here) that actually climbs onto a tractor for a practical view of things, tends to be the exception.

Because of this attitude, there’s a lack of efficient direction in machinery use, for instance in optimising wagon loading during the silage harvest or manoeuvres in the field. In short, the eye for input and results is missing, with associated cropping errors. Theory and practice are not intermeshed. Detail might be taken care of, but not the overall picture, a catastrophe in terms of economic and business efficiency.

The same goes for livestock production. Here’s an example: The milker thinks only about the milk. If the feeding is right, or whether a problem with the milk may have something to do with the feed, is of no interest. The feeder only ensures that enough feed lands in the trough. Does the cow actually eat the ration? Or is the feed mixture the right one for the lactation? The vet pays attention only to cows that are ill. Management and preventative actions are of no concern. In the barn, or out of the field, a mistake or a failure is all too happily blamed on poor machinery. Taking care of problems, or changing strategies, is not considered: a frame of mind that could become the country’s greatest problem.