They park their machinery in separate locations to minimize losses should there be a rocket attack. They closely guard the details of their operations, such as location of grain storage, even from friendly visitors.

“Just please don’t take pictures. And don’t write the name of our farm. Two days ago, a rocket flew into a nearby town, exactly into a granary,” farmer Mykola tells me.

The details are purposely vague, but here’s a bit about Mykola. He manages a large agricultural firm in the north of Ukraine. It farms 100,000 acres of land. Every year it produces grain in excess of 300,000 tonnes and earn tens of millions of dollars.

Even with this success and economic clout, Mykola’s firm and other farmers are powerless in time of war. They cannot stop rockets.

I first came to Mykola to talk about the difficult weather conditions this year. Almost the entire territory of Ukraine has experienced a months-long drought. Something similar happened in 2020, when many farmers lost crops and harvested less than a third of their expected corn yields.

However, by some miracle, Ukrainian farmers have harvested a decent crop this season. It is noticeably smaller than last year, but there is grain. The picture ahead isn’t as bright, though. There is no moisture in the soil several feet down, and farmers cannot plant winter wheat and canola. If the situation does not change, the next year will be very bad.

But Mykola is not only worried about the weather. One way or another, the company can afford to buy the best seed, liquid fertilizers and pesticides, even to work for one or two years at a loss. It’s the war that troubles him most.

“Much worse are Russian missiles and drones,” he says. “Our fields are 100 miles from the border. But we need to be very careful. The Russians are trying to destroy granaries, warehouses with mineral fertilizers and hangars with equipment. Every day you need to think about how to prevent human casualties and financial losses.”

A regional manager of pesticides for a well-known global company stands with us. This young man has undergone several complex surgeries and his leg does not bend well. He received this injury in the war and has now returned to his civilian profession.

“It is still relatively calm here,” the man says. “I have farmer clients who are closer to the border and every trip to them is something scary. Recently, I was driving down the road and a Russian drone hit a nearby car and it exploded.

“I stopped to help. Stunned but alive, people came out and said that everything was fine. And then I saw that the second drone was already flying into my car. I had to run away very quickly.”

As soon as you get closer to the northern, eastern or southeastern border of Ukraine, you will hear many such stories. Residents there live in constant anxiety because the Russians shell towns and villages indiscriminately.

For example, in the large northern city of Sumy, a rocket recently hit a hospital and more than 10 people died. My colleague lives in Sumy and we communicate every day. When I ask him how he is doing, I’m really asking if he managed to get at least two hours of sleep at night. Rockets, large bombs and kamikaze drones fall on the city every night.

I remember that at school we had lessons on civil defence against bombings. Then we wondered why we needed it. Who will attack us, because we are a peaceful country? We also didn’t understand why we needed bomb shelters in every city. Today, my children spend half of their school time in bomb shelters.

At least twice a day, and sometimes four or five times, alarm sirens begin to wail in the city, just like in old black-and-white films about the Second World War. Then an instant movement begins in each school. Several hundred children, together with their teachers, quickly run to the bomb shelter and sit there until the alarm signal sounds.

Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, but often it takes two hours or more. Children sit in the basement, talk to each other, play, or teachers conduct impromptu lessons. If the anxiety did not end until the evening and one of the parents did not come to pick up the children, they can sit in the basement all day.

Adults who work in the fields, on livestock farms and in granaries, most often do not pay attention to alarm signals. This is not madness or special courage. You just can’t do your job otherwise.

You can’t abandon a planter and tractor when every hour of sowing is expensive in wet ground. You won’t leave a sprayer with a full tank in the field, and even more so, you won’t stop a dryer loaded with corn. Therefore, you simply have to take risks, especially in regions that are close to the front line.

A week ago, I had a video call with farmers working in the southern part of Ukraine. Their farms are also very close to the front lines. Do you know what worries them most?

One brushed off my question about everyday danger. What worries him is that he … doesn’t have the money to build a sunflower oil factory and put a modern irrigation system in his fields. This is a man whose farm is just a few miles away from the enemy, which destroys everything it can reach.

Yes, we are adapting to life under war conditions. It is the third year since the start of a full-scale war and the 10th year since the start of hostilities with Russia. You just have to learn to survive, no matter who you are: a teacher, a farmer or a theatre actor. Those who can will wear military uniforms, while others try to do their jobs well.

I have not met a single farmer who would sell his farm and his agricultural machinery to hide abroad. Only shareholders of large agricultural companies, who rarely visited Ukraine before, can do so. All people who work on the land stay on it until the last or take up weapons and protect them from enemies.

Our fall was very dry, without rain for many weeks, and even through mid-autumn, mild heat remained. But even in this false summer, winter is just around the corner. That will mean a new wave of massive missile attacks on power plants and electric transformers, and therefore long blackouts and lack of gas heating.

We once again prepared for a severe military winter, collecting the last crop of carrots, beans and apples, cutting firewood and looking for inexpensive batteries and flashlights.

And each of us is making new plans for the following spring and summer. I want to plant a garden, put in a greenhouse. Another thing is to build a beautiful path from the gate to the house.

But when I’m driving and thinking about it, I soon remember: “You’re being mobilized next September. What can you dream about here, except for high-quality military ammunition?”

Nevertheless, we all dream and we plan our daily affairs as if there is no war. We believe that everything will end well, but we are afraid to even imagine the terrible price that Ukraine has already paid for its freedom. There are many thousands of lost lives and millions of mutilated destinies.

And yes, we need weapons, many modern weapons that will save the lives of children and adults and help stop evil. If we don’t stop it, then maybe no one will.

The post Hiding granaries from missiles appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

When I was in my senior year of school and got bad grades, my parents would scare me by saying I wouldn’t go to university and would instead become a tractor driver. This was considered a bad way of life, since at the end of the 1990s, agriculture in Ukraine was in decline.

People who grew wheat in the fields were often spoken of with sympathy and even disdain by residents of large cities. The feeling was that only losers could sit in the cab of a tractor all day and smell the stench on farms. That is why most young people from my town ran away, to anywhere, just to avoid working in agriculture.

Changes

Since those times, Ukrainian agriculture has undergone enormous changes. As our farmers improved and earned more, they bought new machinery, and professions such as agronomist, engineer, tractor driver and combine harvester became more popular.

It became clear that if you buy a tractor or a self-propelled sprayer for US$400,000, you must also find a highly qualified person who will work efficiently with such equipment. This person needs to be paid well so they will stay with your farm.

About 10 years ago, an acute shortage of personnel began to be felt in the agricultural economy of Ukraine. Most young people did not want to study as agronomists or tractor drivers, choosing less tiring professions instead. Of course, everyone wants to be a blogger, publish videos and earn a lot of money…

At the same time, older machine operators were not always willing and able to learn how to effectively operate modern tractors and combines. They were used to working with technology dating back to the Soviet era. Because of this, farmers literally fought for every promising employee, promising them “golden mountains” and the solution to all their problems.

I remember how, seven years ago, I came to a family of farmers to write about their new elevator. These people, after getting to know me, urged me to stay with them and work in any vacancy that I chose. For this, they would buy me a house, give me a work car, solve all the issues with the school for my children and pay a good salary.

I was surprised and said that I was only a journalist, and did not have an agricultural education. How could I work as an agronomist or tractor driver? I was told the shortage of personnel in their region was so significant that there were only a dozen reliable workers on 40,000 acres. They were are ready to take a person “off the street” and teach him a new profession, so long as he did not have bad habits and was willing to work.

This situation was very different from that of my childhood. At that time, each village had at least 100 and often many more people who worked in agriculture, though it was not effective or efficient.

War torn

With the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians became soldiers. At first, they were volunteers, but later a large-scale mobilization began, which continues to this day. I have been physically examined and am awaiting my notice from the army.

I will be honest: not all men want to fight, so recruiting a certain number of new soldiers to replace those who have been fighting since the beginning of the war is not an easy task. Some have gone abroad, some are hiding from mobilization at home or in another region, and some have a legal reprieve from mobilization.

This is a real problem for the state, since Ukraine must maintain an army of one million soldiers at all times to stand up to the huge Russian army.

It is not surprising that the mobilization most affected the people who live in small villages and towns and work in agriculture. They are easy to find, they do not hide anywhere and are used to difficulties. They know how to operate modern equipment and repair it. These are mostly men aged 35 to 55, brought up on traditional values.

It got to the point where only half the workers remained in many agricultural companies.

Even before the war, we had a shortage of personnel in agriculture. Now that shortage is worse. No wonder farmers are trying to keep their skilled workers on the job and secure them legal reservations. This problem has not gone anywhere. Someone needs to fight and someone needs to grow bread.

On small farms, the owners themselves or members of their families sit in the cab of a tractor or combine more often. Large companies organize special training for women who want to become tractor drivers or truck drivers. In Ukraine, these professions were traditionally considered men’s work, but women perform it at least as well or even better.

However, this is not the full solution, since millions of women and children left for European countries as refugees from the war. Mostly are young, active people. I would like to be wrong, but I suspect most will never return to Ukraine, and this is a huge problem.

Personal risk

My 16-year-old son, Petro, lives with me in Ukraine and some of my friends call me a fool because I didn’t take him abroad. They said he has no future in Ukraine, and in a few years he may be mobilized for war.

Yes, this thought gnaws at me sometimes, and above all, I would like my children to never see war. I have several times offered my son the chance to go abroad, while he is still considered a child and has the right to leave without hindrance.

Petro refused each time. He says this is his country, his parents live here, his sisters live here and he does not want to run away, especially if his father could become a soldier in a year, and he will be needed at home.

I really like a proverb that goes like this: “The darkest night is before the dawn.”

Yes, it is very difficult for all Ukrainians today. Sometimes when you read bad news, you want to give up and run away. But at the same time, I feel how much stronger we have become in these two and a half years. Despite all the destruction, blood and tears, we hold our heads high and fight back.

Such a country, such a people will never give up and never lose. Therefore, I believe everything will be fine with my son and my daughters right here in Ukraine.

When my time comes, I will be a soldier, but I will not run away. You cannot escape from yourself.

And I also see tractors, harvesters, sprayers and trucks full of grain going back and forth in the fields all over Ukraine. The weather has not been kind to farmers this year, but they have once again grown a good crop. We had no rain for two months and our crops survived terrible heat, but we persevered.

And I know that we will stand at the front. People are the most valuable resource.

The post Ukraine war worsens farm worker shortage appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The announcer speaks almost without emotion, as if he is talking about everyday, ordinary things.

You hear that 10 missiles fell on one big city, seven on another city, and dozens of small towns were hit by various attacks. One of the rockets hit a large residential building and killed and injured dozens of people. Another destroyed a power plant, a factory and a grain elevator.

This is our traditional news package — yesterday, today, tomorrow.

This is how the morning begins for Ukrainians. After a long period of stress and emotion comes a cold awareness of the situation. We live with this war and we have almost forgotten what it was like before.

• MORE ‘From Ukraine’ with Ihor Pavliuk

I recently spoke with a farmer, Serhii, who works 30 kilometres from the front line. I felt it was very difficult for this person, but the man was constantly joking and looked at his life with optimism.

Serhii said explosions are heard in their village several times a day — shells, rockets and drones fly toward them. Every person here is literally on the brink of death.

However, people try to live normal lives. They work, celebrate holidays and repair their houses. They explain their fearlessness simply: you will not be able to hide all your life. You need to live here and now.

Serhii is engaged in expanding his farm, investing money in its cultivation and in agricultural machinery and wants to install an irrigation system.

To be honest, I sometimes wonder why we continue to live and work, how we have electricity, gas and water in our houses, how vital services like banks, hospitals and schools work flawlessly. This isn’t true everywhere, but even in regions close to the front, you may not notice that war is nearby.

I can only explain this by the impressive ability of my fellow citizens to adapt to living conditions and improve all processes. We live in a large hive, in which live millions of hardworking bees that help each other.

As I wrote in an earlier article, every Ukrainian tries to turn their home into a Robinson Crusoe island. We grow our own food, stock up, have our own wells and collect firewood. Many houses have their own electric generators or solar batteries.

Therefore, most families can live for a long time without public interaction, but you could never survive without the support of other people.

Specialists live in every house on my street. My immediate neighbour is a tractor operator with his own tractor. There’s a welder, an electrician, a carpenter, a plumber, a builder and a gas heating repair specialist nearby. I can go on and on with this list. Many Ukrainians have several practical professions and this helps them and other people a lot.

If I need to plow my field near the house, I turn to one of the neighbours who has his own mini tractor. If my gas heating breaks down, I don’t look for a government agency or a large company. I go to a local handyman. If my car breaks down, dozens of small workshops and home mechanics throughout the town are at my service.

These people will do everything faster, cheaper and will be happy about new earnings. There are hundreds of thousands of such specialists throughout Ukraine, and thanks to this, you can sow your field or repair your car even during the war.

This also applies to farmers. In all regions of the country, there are many large and small repair shops and companies engaged in the supply of spare parts, pesticides and fertilizers. Their owners go out of their way to meet every customer and sometimes produce miracles.

In the first months of the war, when there was an acute shortage of fuel and other resources for work, these “bees” quickly established supply chains from European Union countries. More cargo began to travel across the border and the problem was overcome.

Specialists of service companies were not afraid to go to customers who worked near the front line. Sometimes tractors and combines were repaired in the field amid the sound of shelling. And even under such conditions, there was fierce competition between dealers. Each wanted to prove he could do the most to help his customers.

In all this, we are helped by two convenient industries that Ukraine can be proud of: logistics and banking. They have also improved in tough competition and there are few countries in the world that can boast of a similar service.

Although we don’t really like bankers, we give credit to them for their service. For example, you can get a payment or credit card at the bank in 10 or 15 minutes. No need to wait for weeks.

If you want to send money to another person, it takes a few seconds. Thanks to this, it is very convenient and simple to sell goods on the internet, including for farmers.

During the entire war, we had only a couple of problems in the payment banking system, and these were quickly eliminated. Believe me, in times of war, it is psychologically supportive — the certainty that you can dispose of your own funds at any time or automatically borrow a certain amount from the bank to buy fuel or medicine.

Another advantage is the ability to send any item throughout Ukraine quickly, conveniently and inexpensively, including cities and villages located near the front line. It takes just a day or two, in most cases, and is also very helpful for small business and military support.

These things open great possibilities for coordinating the efforts of millions of people, for survival in war conditions and for supporting the army.

The entrepreneurial abilities of Ukrainians and our ability to adapt to difficult situations provides powerful support for the army. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people across the country collect a small piece of aid that goes to the front or is given to refugees.

Someone gives a few dollars for these needs, others several thousand dollars. Product sellers provide important necessities — bottled water or instant coffee, soap, toothpaste or sanitary napkins. If someone has no money, he gives a bag of potatoes or several cans of vegetables.

Such a common cause and natural interaction between people who mostly do not know each other forms a powerful flow of support, without which we would never have stood against such a strong enemy.

The real strength of society is not one big centre but millions of little cells, just like bees in a hive, each doing its little part of the work. Despite everything, our great common hive resists the terrible storm, although every day it becomes more difficult to do so.

Unfortunately, we are in dire need of weapons and ammunition. Our lives literally depend on it. Every moment, Ukraine asks Western countries for new supplies of missiles and shells in order to protect its peaceful people from the threat.

We see that only some countries — and Canada is one of them — are not afraid to help us. Leaders of other countries close their eyes and think this danger will not affect them.

Believe me, if the aggressors are not stopped now, they will become stronger later.

– Ihor Pavliuk is a Ukrainian agricultural journalist who has regularly written about the war in Ukraine for Glacier FarmMedia.

The post From Ukraine: Our common hive appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

In some parts of the country, in relatively peaceful regions, some live much as they did before the war. In other places, many sacrifice their lives, businesses and comforts for the sake of victory.

In many cases this applies to farmers, mostly owners of small farms, who went to defend their country in the first days of the war. These people, as employers and significant taxpayers, could legally avoid being drafted into the army. They could even go abroad to a safe place.

But many of these farmers are at war and some of them have been fighting since the beginning, without a break. Of course, this can have a negative effect on their business, because the land and livestock will not wait for them to return home.

Therefore, responsibility and a huge amount of work falls on the shoulders of women. Wives and daughters do the daily work that the family used to do together.

• READ MORE ‘From Ukraine’ reporting by Ihor Pavliuk

The heroine of this story is Polina Zhovtyak. Not only is her husband fighting, but also her daughter, Kateryna, who became a volunteer soldier. That is why Polina has to develop the business of producing elite cheese and ecological bird eggs, unique for Ukraine, on her own. And she succeeds, but admits it can be struggle.

“Yes, it is not easy, because before the war we did everything together,” she says. “But I do not regret it, because I know very well that it is much more difficult in the trenches. Business is good, but the most important thing today is that we defeat the enemy and that our people return home from the war alive and healthy.”

New farmers

The history of the Zhovtyak family farm began from scratch in 2017. Polina never thought she would be engaged in agriculture, although she grew up in the village where they now farm. She has two diplomas of higher education — education and legal.

Her husband, Serhii, grew up in a big city but from a young age he was interested in veterinary medicine and agronomy. Initially the young couple started a business selling animal feed.

“Step by step, we realized that we want to have our own farm, where we could do what we are interested in,” she says.

Serhii and Polina found an old ruined complex of buildings in the southeastern part of Ukraine, which they bought for relatively little money. The farm is 150 acres, which is considered quite small by Ukrainian standards.

‘We sought to produce truly natural products: milk and bird eggs,” Polina says. “We keep cows, goats and sheep, and from their milk we make almost 30 types of cheese, selling it under our own brand. We also sell organic chicken, quail and guinea fowl eggs. There are plans to breed geese.”

From the beginning, the farm adhered to the concept that animals should feel as comfortable and happy as possible. Livestock and poultry should roam freely in the pasture, Polina says.

“We grow all animal feed ourselves. We make our cheese exclusively according to ancient folk recipes without chemical additives. At the same time, we keep ancient traditional Ukrainian breeds of chickens and geese and want to revive them.”

The farm is a few hours’ drive from the front line. Although this region is considered relatively safe, the large city nearby is regularly shelled by the Russians.

“My husband is a peaceful and kind person, but when the Russians seized Crimea and part of the eastern regions of Ukraine in 2014, Serhii became a military volunteer,” says Polina. “He was trained and went to the front several times. Psychologically, we were ready for a big war even then.”

With that experience, Serhii went to defend Ukraine on the first day of the full-scale invasion, and is now in his third year of fighting. Initially he was in the infantry. Now he leads a flight of combat drones that have inflicted significant damage on the enemy.

The stability of Ukraine’s defense largely depends on experienced soldiers like Serhii. Their term of service is indefinite and they do not know when they will return home. It is very difficult physically and psychologically. And, of course, it negatively affects household chores and work. During the entire past year, Serhii had only one short leave.

“At the same time as my husband, our daughter joined the army,” Polina says. “Before the full-scale war, she had her own bakery. Now she has become a combat medic.”

That leaves Polina in charge of the farm and the business, so she instantly had to learn to run the bakery and operate all facets of the farm. It’s difficult, but not a unique situation during such times.

“Today every Ukrainian must give up his comfort for the sake of victory. After all, this is a war to destroy us all. People are dying and we must stop it,” says Polina.

Communication with Serhii is sketchy and unreliable, and for the most part Polina is left to make her own decisions.

“Before the war, my husband and I had a division of tasks. I was involved in product sales, logistics, accounting and legal affairs. My husband was involved in cheese making, technologies, construction and agricultural machinery.”

Now the farm is a one-woman show. Polina also helps the army and gives food and other help to soldiers at the front.

She dreams of the day the war is over and they can once again improve their operation. She envisions a new cheese factory with gleaming equipment, a new barn for the cows that better meets the needs of the animals, an expansion and investors to fund it.

But for now, she waits.

“Today my biggest dream is victory so that the enemy fled back to himself,” says Polina. “We cannot stand aside because we will lose our country and everything that is dear to us.”

The post From Ukraine: On the home front appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Ukraine’s agriculture was hit very hard by the war. Most of the country’s farmers were on the verge of impoverishment and were forced to learn how to survive. From these farmers you may learn which lessons are better to learn in peacetime, to better be ready for possible shocks.

Farmers usually follow recommendations when planting and growing crops or raising livestock. A farmer knows that for best results, he should apply a certain amount of fertilizer and spray the plants with the necessary pesticides to protect them. Careful cultivation and preparation of the field are also necessary.

But in the past two years, Ukrainian farmers were forced to learn to grow grain with minimal budgets. If they used to apply 600 kilograms of fertilizer to a hectare of land, today they grow a crop using 150 or 200 kg.

This forces them to look for other ways to nourish their crops. It also changes how closely they sow seeds and the spacing between rows. In many cases it has promoted wider use of inexpensive biostimulants, though it’s not proven they will help.

As I have observed farmers throughout the war, I have seen that the best results come from farmers who actively experimented before the war, and sought to reduce their cost of production even in peacetime.

While storing grain on the farm may be commonplace in Canada, it’s more limited in Ukraine. If a farmer doesn’t have a place to store the grain they grow, this can become a serious problem during wartime.

Overloaded regional elevators may refuse to accept crop for drying and storage. Grain can spoil. Due to the instantaneous increase in energy prices, the cost of grain elevator services may increase several-fold and it will be unprofitable for the farmer to use.

Therefore, it is better to have their own storage, even if it is primitive. This will give the farmer time to make the best decision.

During the war it is almost impossible to sell grain at a normal price, while the cost of fuel, animal feed and various food products is high. Many Ukrainian farmers began to process their produce and sell finished products to earn additional money. Farmers’ interest in animal husbandry has also increased. But it is clear it was better to start doing all this long before the war, in order to have the opportunity to perfect production processes.

In times of war, banks and supply companies have limited resources and lend money and resources only to guaranteed reliable customers. If a farmer has such a reputation, they have a better chance of finding financial support to grow a crop.

Ukrainians have a good saying: “Friends are known in trouble.” A farmer must have many friends and good acquaintances, including other farmers, managers of supply companies and neighbours. In times of war and other disasters, this makes it possible to get quick support and coordinate efforts to overcome a problem.

For example, overcoming the consequences of rocket fire or clearing snow after a heavy snowfall.

It is worthwhile to create regional farmers’ clubs and communicate regularly to know everyone personally. A farmer will not survive apart from other people.

Before the war in Ukraine, some financially secure farmers believed it was not necessary to own their own seeders, high clearance sprayers or combines.

They thought this machinery could be easily rented and the farm wouldn’t have to own and maintain it.

Today,  agricultural companies that have their own agricultural machinery have the greatest chance of survival. It is more profitable, because the operating costs are lower than renting.
When there is a war in the country, all industries suffer, especially the provision of services. A farmer may simply not find a sprayer or combine in time.

So, if they have such an opportunity, they should buy their own agricultural machinery. It is also very useful to have their own excavators and trucks – especially trucks – because one of the biggest problems in wartime is logistics.

A farmer should try to buy fuel, fertilizers and pesticides for the next season as soon as they can afford it. This is what saved many farmers I know, when there was nothing to buy in the first months of the full-scale war.

Over time, the market normalized, but before that it was necessary to survive during four or five months of acute shortage of fuel, pesticides and spare parts, all during the spring sowing season.
No farmer should completely rely on third-party companies. If they have reliable and qualified employees, they should try to keep them at work.

In times of upheaval, it is better to have people around who know how to repair agricultural machinery and have a good knowledge of agronomy. A farm should have a few people it can rely on who are professional in their field.

Always keep in mind the possibility that electricity and natural gas may be out for extended periods of time. It is very good to have solar panels and wind generators and definitely diesel generators. Their power should be enough for basic life needs and to ensure the minimum functioning of a livestock farm.

It is very good if a farm can heat its buildings with firewood. This is an excellent backup option.

One of the biggest problems during the war is sudden disappearance of mobile communications and the internet due to missile attacks. A farmer can instantly lose touch with other people and won’t know what’s happening in the country or on the next street.

Therefore, farm workers must have wireless walkie-talkies and equipment that allows them to connect to the internet in the absence of electricity. Some farmers found that their traditional land lines worked best in these conditions.

A farmer who hopes to survive should not be paralyzed by fear, and should be ready to take control of their own destiny.

In times of wars and natural disasters, state bodies cannot save everything and help everyone at once. It makes no sense to sit back and wait for someone to come and solve problems.

Under such conditions, each farm turns into an island of stability for the surrounding residents. Farmers immediately take the initiative into their own hands. They provide people with food and organize people’s self-defence to maintain order. They solve infrastructure problems and organize support for the army. 

This makes it possible to prevent social upheaval, because all people receive the necessary means of living and see that law and order has not disappeared.

These are hard lessons, learned over the past two years, and I hope Canadian farmers never have to learn them first-hand.

—Ihor Pavliuk is a farm journalist based in Ukraine who has filed regular contributions to Glacier FarmMedia publications over the course of the war. 

The post War teaches Ukrainian farmers tough lessons  appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

My friends are divided into two camps. Some planned to celebrate Christmas in a new way, others do not want to change anything.

However, this is far from the biggest problem in our lives. As we approached the end of December, my mood, like that of most Ukrainians, was not at all Christmassy. The heroic achievement of 2022, when our lives hung in the balance and our defenders managed to repel the enemy, was replaced by the bloody routine of 2023.

The enemy has gathered his strength and is systematically pressing on various areas of the front. Our boys and girls fight back as best they can, but they lack weapons and personnel.

Sometimes it seems like it will never end. One of the faces of war is a psychological breakdown when you see how your friends die, how people find themselves without a home and without a solid support in life. And it may seem that you are powerless to stop it.

I live in the relatively calm region of Ukraine, although at night, we sometimes hear the buzzing of enemy drones with explosives and the sounds of gunfire as the military tries to shoot them down. But in general, in everyday life, people in my town do not see the obvious horrors of war.

However, the war does not allow us to forget about ourselves. Every week, solemn burials of fallen soldiers – our compatriots – take place here. They were ordinary people; farmers, builders, locksmiths and electricians. The war tore them from their homes and families and made them soldiers. Probably none of them ever thought they would die at the front, defending their Motherland.

I try to lead a normal life, because I have to worry about my family, earn money and solve various everyday tasks. I also have a garden and a small field that needs my attention. The only entertainment I allow myself is a quick coffee and soccer with my friends twice a week.

Every time I have pleasant moments in life, an unexpected thought comes to my head: we have a war… It’s been almost two years. And these are not some combat operations on another continent, somewhere far away. Only 300 miles away, bad people in military uniforms are breaking into homes to kill families.

It is quite difficult to explain psychologically. You live and do everyday things, like build or plant something. And you understand that if our boys and girls on the line of fire cannot withstand the onslaught of the enemy, it will all be unimportant.

Your house, your garden, your children’s education, your family photos, your plans – you will have to either run away or take up a weapon to try to stop the enemy.

Half a mile from my house, the fields are cultivated by local farmers. In three months, they will have to put seeds and fertilizers in the ground to grow a new crop.

These people have almost no money left, so their work turns into a casino game. If you are lucky, you will grow a good crop of grain and pay off your debts. If not, it’s better not to think about it.

The population of Ukrainian villages, where most farmers live, began to decrease many years ago. People did not like the lack of good jobs and comfortable living conditions, so they went to big cities or to earn money abroad.

Today, the situation has worsened significantly. Dozens of villages near the front line have simply been wiped off the face of the Earth, hundreds of villages have been destroyed, to the extent that they are unlikely to be revived in coming years.

Their inhabitants move to the rear regions, having no possessions except the clothes on their backs. All of them need to be settled and integrated into a new community.

A large number of men who worked in agriculture were mobilized for the army. Some died, some were wounded, and others still have to fight. If you take 10 or 15 healthy men from a village with 200 people (mostly old people) for military service, it begins to decline. There is no one to work on tractors, there is no one to do communal work.

Women with children often go abroad, fleeing the war. The consequence of this can be the disintegration of the family, since the husband and wife do not see each other for years. This is a very painful aspect of war, one of its many poisonous results.

Opportunities for earning money have deteriorated. The budgets of all public and private companies have been significantly reduced, because it is necessary to allocate a lot of money for defence of the country.

At the same time, the prices of food and other goods have increased. And frankly, I can’t imagine how a person who earns $160 to $200 a month in a minimum-wage government job can feed their family. In the winter, this money will only be enough to pay for utilities.

I am telling this so you can imagine what war is like for an ordinary person who is not at the front and does not hear the explosions.

This is a snake that won’t let you go and bites day and night. You are in limbo and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You can’t plan for the future, except that sooner or later you will be alone and wearing a military uniform.

However, you learn to appreciate those things that you did not pay attention to before.

Once, back in 2014, we were sitting at a table with friends. Then, Russia attacked Ukraine for the first time and occupied Crimea and part of two eastern regions. The economic situation immediately worsened due to the enemy invasion in the country and my friends, whom I considered to be intelligent people, began to moan that it was necessary to agree to Putin’s demands because they were tired of the war.

Their “fatigue” was that they had no money to go to resorts in Turkey and Egypt three times a year. I remember getting angry and saying they should be glad we were not digging anti-tank ditches for half a pound of bread a day, as it was during the Second World War.

It is a sin to complain about a small salary or the lack of delicacies on the table when your neighbour is now standing in a trench up to his knees in icy water and counting enemy shells flying at his head. And if he does not stand there, then the projectiles will fly on your head.

That’s right, the lives of tens of millions of people and the safety of the entire civilized world today depend on those men and women in the east and south of Ukraine who are now desperately holding back the enemy, who has 10 times more people and military equipment.

Therefore, it is strange to see in the Western press the opinion that the world is tired of the war in Ukraine.

I know who is really tired – those business representatives who are used to trading with Russia. Even today, dozens and hundreds of companies continue to supply Putin with components so that he can produce more modern weapons and kill Ukrainians.

It is necessary to understand the main thing: this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine over some territories. It’s a war between those who think it’s OK to kill and humiliate people, and those who don’t.

If the Ukrainian military does not hold back the enemy, Russia will not stop there, and all the dictators of the world will have an excellent example to follow.

My farmer neighbours will go to the field in the spring. They will prepare the land for sowing, plant and grow crops. At the moment, they are not interested in whether the grain will be expensive or cheap. They know what to sow and they are not going to leave their native land.

I have the opportunity to emigrate and know that I could start a new life abroad. But I will never do that. We will not retreat anywhere.

These are our fields.

–Ihor Pavluik is a Ukrainian agricultural

The post What is war fatigue? appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

My friends are divided into two camps. Some planned to celebrate Christmas in a new way, others do not want to change anything.

However, this is far from the biggest problem in our lives. As we approached the end of December, my mood, like that of most Ukrainians, was not at all Christmassy. The heroic achievement of 2022, when our lives hung in the balance and our defenders managed to repel the enemy, was replaced by the bloody routine of 2023.

The enemy has gathered his strength and is systematically pressing on various areas of the front. Our boys and girls fight back as best they can, but they lack weapons and personnel.

Sometimes it seems like it will never end. One of the faces of war is a psychological breakdown when you see how your friends die, how people find themselves without a home and without a solid support in life. And it may seem that you are powerless to stop it.

I live in the relatively calm region of Ukraine, although at night, we sometimes hear the buzzing of enemy drones with explosives and the sounds of gunfire as the military tries to shoot them down. But in general, in everyday life, people in my town do not see the obvious horrors of war.

However, the war does not allow us to forget about ourselves. Every week, solemn burials of fallen soldiers – our compatriots – take place here. They were ordinary people; farmers, builders, locksmiths and electricians. The war tore them from their homes and families and made them soldiers. Probably none of them ever thought they would die at the front, defending their Motherland.

I try to lead a normal life, because I have to worry about my family, earn money and solve various everyday tasks. I also have a garden and a small field that needs my attention. The only entertainment I allow myself is a quick coffee and soccer with my friends twice a week.

Every time I have pleasant moments in life, an unexpected thought comes to my head: we have a war… It’s been almost two years. And these are not some combat operations on another continent, somewhere far away. Only 300 miles away, bad people in military uniforms are breaking into homes to kill families.

It is quite difficult to explain psychologically. You live and do everyday things, like build or plant something. And you understand that if our boys and girls on the line of fire cannot withstand the onslaught of the enemy, it will all be unimportant.

Your house, your garden, your children’s education, your family photos, your plans – you will have to either run away or take up a weapon to try to stop the enemy.

Half a mile from my house, the fields are cultivated by local farmers. In three months, they will have to put seeds and fertilizers in the ground to grow a new crop.

These people have almost no money left, so their work turns into a casino game. If you are lucky, you will grow a good crop of grain and pay off your debts. If not, it’s better not to think about it.

The population of Ukrainian villages, where most farmers live, began to decrease many years ago. People did not like the lack of good jobs and comfortable living conditions, so they went to big cities or to earn money abroad.

Today, the situation has worsened significantly. Dozens of villages near the front line have simply been wiped off the face of the Earth, hundreds of villages have been destroyed, to the extent that they are unlikely to be revived in coming years.

Their inhabitants move to the rear regions, having no possessions except the clothes on their backs. All of them need to be settled and integrated into a new community.

A large number of men who worked in agriculture were mobilized for the army. Some died, some were wounded, and others still have to fight. If you take 10 or 15 healthy men from a village with 200 people (mostly old people) for military service, it begins to decline. There is no one to work on tractors, there is no one to do communal work.

Women with children often go abroad, fleeing the war. The consequence of this can be the disintegration of the family, since the husband and wife do not see each other for years. This is a very painful aspect of war, one of its many poisonous results.

Opportunities for earning money have deteriorated. The budgets of all public and private companies have been significantly reduced, because it is necessary to allocate a lot of money for defence of the country.

At the same time, the prices of food and other goods have increased. And frankly, I can’t imagine how a person who earns $160 to $200 a month in a minimum-wage government job can feed their family. In the winter, this money will only be enough to pay for utilities.

I am telling this so you can imagine what war is like for an ordinary person who is not at the front and does not hear the explosions.

This is a snake that won’t let you go and bites day and night. You are in limbo and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You can’t plan for the future, except that sooner or later you will be alone and wearing a military uniform.

However, you learn to appreciate those things that you did not pay attention to before.

Once, back in 2014, we were sitting at a table with friends. Then, Russia attacked Ukraine for the first time and occupied Crimea and part of two eastern regions. The economic situation immediately worsened due to the enemy invasion in the country and my friends, whom I considered to be intelligent people, began to moan that it was necessary to agree to Putin’s demands because they were tired of the war.

Their “fatigue” was that they had no money to go to resorts in Turkey and Egypt three times a year. I remember getting angry and saying they should be glad we were not digging anti-tank ditches for half a pound of bread a day, as it was during the Second World War.

It is a sin to complain about a small salary or the lack of delicacies on the table when your neighbour is now standing in a trench up to his knees in icy water and counting enemy shells flying at his head. And if he does not stand there, then the projectiles will fly on your head.

That’s right, the lives of tens of millions of people and the safety of the entire civilized world today depend on those men and women in the east and south of Ukraine who are now desperately holding back the enemy, who has 10 times more people and military equipment.

Therefore, it is strange to see in the Western press the opinion that the world is tired of the war in Ukraine.

I know who is really tired – those business representatives who are used to trading with Russia. Even today, dozens and hundreds of companies continue to supply Putin with components so that he can produce more modern weapons and kill Ukrainians.

It is necessary to understand the main thing: this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine over some territories. It’s a war between those who think it’s OK to kill and humiliate people, and those who don’t.

If the Ukrainian military does not hold back the enemy, Russia will not stop there, and all the dictators of the world will have an excellent example to follow.

My farmer neighbours will go to the field in the spring. They will prepare the land for sowing, plant and grow crops. At the moment, they are not interested in whether the grain will be expensive or cheap. They know what to sow and they are not going to leave their native land.

I have the opportunity to emigrate and know that I could start a new life abroad. But I will never do that. We will not retreat anywhere.

These are our fields.

–Ihor Pavluik is a Ukrainian agricultural journalist.

The post What is war fatigue? appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Near my town, a German-made NEXAT transformer unit is working in the fields and is one of few in the world. It’s a massive all-in-one machine that handles every step in crop production: spring cultivation, seeding, crop protection and harvesting.

While this is the cutting edge, you’ll also find many farms with equipment familiar to Canadian farmers: powerful tractors and combines, super-technological 24-row planters, beautiful self-propelled sprayers and many other pieces of modern agricultural machinery.

But nearby, in the machine yard of the farm, there are old, rusted agricultural machines, some of which probably saw the Caribbean Crisis, as we call the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• MORE ‘From Ukraine’ with Ihor Pavliuk

Thrifty

Ukrainian peasants are very reluctant to get rid of old things. Based on habits inherited from distant ancestors, they believe these items can still be useful.

I personally have such a habit hidden deep inside, and without understanding why, I carefully keep at home giant chains for cattle, antlers for putting pots in the oven, rockers for buckets, and even a flail with which my ancestors threshed grain.

Farmers who cultivate relatively small areas of land by Ukrainian standards still use old tractors and combines, not to mention plows and cultivators. When you see such veterans in the field or on the road, you generally wonder how such equipment can be started and driven somewhere. But people work, not wanting to spend money on new agricultural machines.

The equipment arsenal kept by farmers who cultivate small acreages is extremely varied. They have small hand-held tillers to which trailers are attached, or bought or even homemade tiny tractors. Sometimes you even see a small field being plowed with the help of horses.

Similarly, we still have horse-drawn carts, although this is rare. In my town, there seems to be only one horse left. My friend keeps him at home as a pet. In his youth, he worked at a stable and retained his love for horses throughout his life.

Limping along

The villagers repair this old agricultural machinery on their own and look for spare parts from old stocks. Thanks to this, we still have many people who can fix tractors, trucks, motorcycles, and anything else.

In addition, hundreds and thousands of small repair enterprises operate throughout Ukraine, mostly on farms. Some of them can repair machinery and also create new designs: harrows, cultivators, liquid fertilizer barrels and trailers.

It might seem like a primitive thing tied to the past, but in 2014, when Crimea was invaded by Russia, it showed that such a network was valuable and needed.

At the time, Ukraine had thousands of units of military equipment, but most of it was in storage and in bad condition. Military trucks, tractors and infantry fighting vehicles all needed repair and farmers helped restore them. No one forced them to do this, and farmers repaired military vehicles with their own money, and also provided their own machinery – trucks, excavators, even tractors.

The start of a full-scale war in 2022 raised new challenges for Ukrainian society. The larger war revealed unexpected moments.

On the one hand, we urgently need high-precision weapons – anti-aircraft defence, long-range missiles, modern tanks, airplanes and helicopters. This allows us to effectively destroy the enemy, minimizing the loss of soldiers.

But on the other hand, war is not a movie in which your army wins beautifully. It is constant exhausting work, it is fatigue, it is blood and sweat, and also countless small stories.

Basic needs

You need to bring food, ammunition and various equipment to the soldiers. You need to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield, transport fuel, transport soldiers closer to the front line; also, transport goods across the country, build fortifications, demine fields and roads – many, many things.

The success of the country’s defence against the enemy largely depends on how successfully we deal with these logistical and economic challenges. And so depends our lives and the lives of those we care for.

That is why apparently every Ukrainian voluntarily gave money to buy cars for the army – jeeps, trucks, minibuses, and various engineering equipment. This is the lifeblood of the country’s defence system.

Over the past 20 months, hundreds of thousands of vehicles have passed through the crucible of war. A significant number of them have then turned into scrap metal, having fulfilled their main mission to help save human lives.

It is difficult to imagine from which hiding places Ukrainian volunteers pull these vehicles from all over Europe. Most often, they are old SUVs that need repair. They can be purchased for a few dollars, then repaired and sent to the front.

The life of such cars can vary widely. Sometimes it literally takes two or three hours, because the car can immediately come under fire or hit a mine and be destroyed.

Then there’s the kind of work the vehicles do, mostly near the front line. Military, unofficial volunteers, medics, they all drive through mud and over hills, often at breakneck speed because even a moment’s delay can cost lives. Having a reliable Jeep can frequently be more important than even a tank.

Deep support

Every time I talk to another Ukrainian farmer, when I ask how they are supporting the army, they say they have transferred several trucks from their company to our defenders. This is a sign of good morale and Ukrainian farmers consider it their duty.

But most of them are not limited to this and they actively look for and then buy cars abroad: pickup trucks, Jeeps, minibuses, trucks, everything that can drive in extreme conditions.

In addition, some farmers independently make small buggies for the military using spare parts from old cars. These designs can be quite interesting, but so far, there are few.

Sometimes cars that have been in the war drive into our relatively peaceful town. They have a shocking appearance, riddled with shell fragments and bearing holes from automatic bullets. They can be so dirty that it is not clear what colour they are. But external beauty is not the main thing for them. These are cars that save human life.

Internal sources

In the 1990s, mass production of domestic vehicles neared extinction in Ukraine, a loss we are feeling deeply now. Our factories produced simple cars and trucks that were not distinguished by reliability, but they were cheap and easy to repair.

As the experience of war has shown, we could really use several tens of thousands of domestically produced mini SUVs and any trucks that could meet the needs of the army. It is better than looking for old cars of different models from all over the world.

I can say the same about national production of agricultural machinery. Although our farmers are already used to using the machinery of the best global brands, it is very good that Ukraine produces its own planters, cultivators, sprayers and other agricultural machinery. During the war, this makes it possible to buy and repair machines for work in the field.

Globalization may work in times of peace, but during times of war, a country wants the factories that produce those things necessary for function and defence: trucks, tanks and agricultural machinery.

The post From Ukraine: Civilian cars and ancient farm machinery appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

For example, near my town, a German-made NEXAT transformer unit is working in the fields. It’s a massive ‘all-in-one’ machine that handles every step in crop production: spring cultivation, seeding, crop protection and harvesting–and one of only a few in the world.

While this is the cutting edge, you’ll also find many farms with equipment that would be familiar to Canadian farmers: huge powerful tractors and combines, super-technological 24-row planters, self-propelled sprayers and many other modern agricultural machinery.

But in the nearby machine yard of the farm, just in case, there are old, rusted agricultural machines, some of which probably saw the Caribbean Crisis (as we call the Cuban Missile Crisis).

Thrifty

The Ukrainian peasant is very reluctant to get rid of old things. Based on habits inherited from distant ancestors, he or she believes that they can still be useful. Personally, I also have this habit hidden somewhere deep inside me. I, without understanding why, carefully keep at home giant chains for cattle, antlers for putting pots in the oven, rockers for buckets, and even a flail with which my ancestors threshed grain.

Farmers who cultivate relatively small tracts of land, by Ukrainian standards, still use old equipment. When you see such “veterans” in the field or on the road, you generally wonder how such equipment can be started and driven. People don’t want to spend money (or don’t have money to spend) on new agricultural machines.

The technical arsenal of farmers who cultivate small acreages is extremely varied. They have small tillers to which trailers are attached, and tiny, sometimes homemade, tractors. Sometimes you can even see a small field being plowed with the help of horses. We still have horse-drawn carts, although this is rare. In my town, there is only one horse left. My friend keeps him at home as a pet. In his youth, my friend worked at a stable and retained his love for horses.

Limping along

The villagers repair all this old agricultural machinery on their own and look for spare parts for it from old stocks. Thanks to this, we still have many people who can fix tractors, trucks, motorcycles, and anything else. Hundreds and thousands of small repair enterprises operate throughout Ukraine, mostly on the farms. Some of them can also create new designs: harrows, cultivators, liquid fertilizer barrels, and trailers.

It might seem like a primitive thing, tied to the past, but in 2014 when Crimea was invaded by Russia, it showed that such a network was valuable and needed.

At the time Ukraine had thousands of units of military equipment, but most of it was in storage and in bad condition. Military trucks, tractors, and infantry fighting vehicles all needed repair. Farmers helped restore them. No one forced them to do this. Farmers repaired military vehicles with their own money, and also provided their own machinery–trucks, excavators, even tractors.

The start of a full-scale war in 2022 raised new challenges for Ukrainian society.

On the one hand, we urgently need high-precision weapons–anti-aircraft defense, long-range missiles, modern tanks, airplanes and helicopters. This allows you to effectively destroy the enemy, minimizing the loss of your soldiers. But on the other hand, war is not a movie in which your army wins beautifully. It is constant exhausting work, it is fatigue, it is blood and sweat–and also countless small stories.

Basic needs

You need to bring food, ammunition and various equipment to the soldiers. You need to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield, transport fuel, and transport soldiers closer to the front line. You must transport goods across the country, build fortifications, demine fields and roads–many, many things. The success of your country’s defense against the enemy largely depends on how successfully you deal with these logistical and economic challenges. And so depends your life and the lives of those you care for.

That is why many Ukrainians voluntarily gave money to purchase cars for the army–jeeps, trucks, minibuses, and also various engineering equipment. This is the lifeblood of the country’s defense system. Over the past 20 months, hundreds of thousands of vehicles have passed through the crucible of war. A significant part of them have then turned into scrap metal, having fulfilled their main mission–to help save human lives.

It is difficult to imagine from which hiding places Ukrainian volunteers pull out these vehicles from all over Europe. Most often, these are old SUVs that need repair. They can be purchased for a few dollars, then repaired and sent to the front. The duration of the life of such cars can wildly varied. Sometimes it literally takes two or three hours, because the car can immediately come under fire or hit a mine and be destroyed.

Then there’s the kind of work the vehicles do, mostly near the front line. Military, unofficial volunteers, medics, they all drive through mud and over hills, often at breakneck speed because even a moment’s delay can cost lives. Having a reliable jeep can frequently be more important than even a tank.

Deep support

Every time I talk to another Ukrainian farmer, I know that when I ask how they are supporting the army, they will respond they have transferred several trucks from their company to our defenders. This is a sign of good morale and Ukrainian farmers consider it their duty. Most of them are not limited to this. They actively look for and then buy cars abroad: pickup trucks, jeeps, minibuses, trucks, that is, everything that can drive in extreme conditions.

In addition, some farmers independently make small buggies for the military, using spare parts from old cars. These designs can be quite interesting, but so far they are still few and far between.

Sometimes cars that have been in the war drive into our relatively peaceful town. They have a shocking appearance. They are riddled with shell fragments and have holes from automatic bullets. They can be so dirty that it is not clear what colour they are. But external beauty is not the main thing for them. These are cars that save human life.

Internal sources

In the 1990s, mass production of domestic vehicles neared extinction in Ukraine, a loss we our feeling deeply now. Our factories produced simple cars and trucks, which were not distinguished by reliability, but they were cheap and easy to repair.

As the experience of the war has shown, now we could really use tens of thousands of domestically produced mini SUVs and any trucks that could meet the needs of the army. It is better than looking for old cars of different models from all over the world.

I can say the same about the national production of agricultural machinery. Although our farmers are already used to the machinery of the best global brands, it is very good that Ukraine produces its own planters, cultivators, sprayers and other agricultural machinery. During the war, it makes it possible to continue to purchase and repair machines for work in the field.

Globalization may work in times of peace, but during times of war a country wants to have the factories that produce those things.

— Ihor Pavliuk is a Ukrainian agricultural journalist.

Updated Nov. 15 – more photos added.

The post Ukrainian farmers’ history of making do pays off in wartime appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The farm of Hryhoriy Tkachenko came under attack in the first days of the war. During the three weeks of occupation, the farm was so badly damaged that he still cannot restore everything. It was the near-total destruction of 20 years of work.

He and his wife began their farm on a few acres of land they received from the state when the Soviet-era collective farms were wound down. Today, they cultivate more than 4,000 acres. Their business developed quickly — until the war began.

“We grew many different agricultural crops: wheat, sunflower, soy, canola, corn, barley, oats, millet and potatoes,” said Tkachenko.

“We had a garden, several acres of raspberries and strawberries. There is also a large modern dairy farm where we produced milk of the highest quality. Everything was fine and we could finally enjoy the results of the work of our hands. I couldn’t even imagine that all our buildings would be destroyed.”

[RELATED] From Ukraine: The second summer of war

The farm is in northern Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. When Russian troops entered Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, bloody battles began in this area. There were few Ukrainian troops there, so many civilians volunteered to defend the country.

“On March 9, the last unequal battle took place and our defenders were forced to retreat,” Tkachenko said.

“The occupiers entered our village and stayed here until March 30. During these three weeks, they managed to wreak so much havoc that we still cannot recover.”

After liberation of the village, state authorities assessed the damaged property on Tkachenko’s farm. Without adding in lost inventory — the dead cows, burned grain and seeds, as well as fertilizers and other inputs — the damage to farm infrastructure amounted to approximately US$750,000.

“We also lost 158 heads of cattle, half of the herd. But out of 172 dairy cows, 108 died… Russians barbecued our cows,” said Tkachenko.

“In addition, we had a modern milking parlour. This equipment was destroyed by a direct hit from a rocket. Our pride in the production of extra-class milk simply ceased to exist.”

The occupiers also caused trouble in the village where the farm is located. In particular, they destroyed a church, which the farmer and his compatriots are now trying to rebuild.

[RELATED] ‘Everything was destroyed:’ One farmer’s tale of the Russia invasion

On the farm itself, 17 buildings were destroyed or damaged, as well as a lot of farm equipment.

“We are directing our main efforts today to help the Ukrainian army. My son, who fought in the east of Ukraine, also became a soldier,” he said.

It was difficult to work normally in fields. Explosive objects were everywhere. Villagers traveled with sappers and looked for mines and shells. Thanks to this, it was possible to sow 98 per cent of the land.

At the same time, specialists were demining houses because the retreating Russians left deadly “surprises” for civilians. Even today, in this area, people are forbidden to go into the forest, because there may be traps with explosives.

“The occupation set our economy back several years in development,” Tkachenko said, “After all, it takes at least three years to grow a cow. We milked 7,000 litres of milk per year from each animal. And it was the best milk. Now we have to slowly revive it all.”

He managed to repair the milking parlour and restore the computer equipment. He also bought 20 cattle with borrowed money. Now almost everything has to be done on credit, though that’s not easy in a war-torn country.

“Banks are very reluctant to give us credit, because we are still in the risk zone,” said Tkachenko. “We are met only by some old partners who give us fertilizers and pesticides in exchange for grain. If it weren’t for them, I don’t know what we would do.”

Although a good harvest of almost all crops is expected in Ukraine this year, there was little rain near his farm, so the wheat harvest was low.

“We harvested only 4.2 tonnes of grain per hectare. This is a very low yield,” he said.

The situation would be better if he got a good price for grain. But because the Russians are blocking sea ports, the price of grain is constantly decreasing.

“For example, I agreed in the morning that I will sell one tonne of wheat for 4,500 hryvnias (C$166),” Tkachenko said. “However, they called me in the evening and said ‘sorry, we can only buy 4,200 hryvnias each.’ That is, the harvest from one hectare of wheat will pay me 16,800 hryvnias — but my expenses amounted to 20,000 hryvnias .”

The farm is several hundred miles from the point of sale, incurring additional costs, and not all carriers are ready to do it.

There is no shortage of work on the farm. It was necessary to do everything at once: bury the dead cows, repair the buildings, repair the grain dryer, find agricultural machinery.

“In particular, I had to harvest corn all winter in order to sell it for next to nothing,” Tkachenko said.

He’s now hoping that non-traditional crops for the area, oats and millet that are cheaper to produce, will help pay debts. He also expects a good potato harvest but low prices. He hopes sunflower prices will be good.

Tkachenko also said he’s grateful for the agronomists of some companies that sell inputs like fertilizer. They were unafraid to come to his farm and help him grow crops, and without them, the farm wouldn’t have seen good results.

But despite these hardships, Tkachenko is thinking of the future.

“The only way out that I see today is to diversify our production,” he said. “We don’t just want to milk cows, but we want to make finished products from milk to get additional profit. We will also be engaged in meat production.

“We will also produce fuel briquettes and sell them. Somehow, we will develop in this way, since today it is impossible to sell grain at a normal price.”

The farm has also been aided by an informal network of nearby farmers who are neighbours and friends. They have banded together to help each other through challenging times.

“Everything will be fine and I’m sure of it,” Tkachenko said. “Yes, it is very difficult for us now, but I have no doubt that we will revive our farm and normal life in the region.”

As for me, I communicate with many Ukrainian farmers, many of whom are in similar circumstances. None of them think about giving up and getting rid of their business. I consider this a great miracle and cannot imagine how these people find the strength and opportunities to revive their farms under such difficult conditions.

But they are full of optimism, which in turn fuels optimism in me.

The post From Ukraine: Rebuilding in the rubble appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.