By KYIV. Jan 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Epicenter Agro holding, part of the Epicenter K group of companies, noted an increase in the profitability of its livestock business not only in 2023, but also over the course of five years, as evidenced by the EBITDA of this area, which amounted to over $800 a year per hectare, according to the official website of the agricultural holding.
According to the report, the financial service Epicenter Agro compared the profitability of its divisions operating in crop production and livestock production in 2023. As a result, it was found that the average EBITDA of commercial crops fluctuates around $100 per ha.
At the same time, if the gross EBITDA of the holding’s livestock segment is divided by the area of land under forage crops (corn for silage, annual and perennial grasses), then the EBITDA per ha is over $800.
“The livestock industry of Epicenter Agro, like others, has undergone changes since the start of the full-scale invasion. Temporary cessation of the work of processing enterprises, an increase in the cost of production due to increased prices for purchased feed, veterinary drugs, milking products, fuels and lubricants and electricity are just some of the obstacles that specialists in this area have encountered,” the agricultural holding said on its website.
The head of the zootechnical service of the Northern cluster of Epicenter Agro, Oleksandr Zaviazun is convinced that despite all the vicissitudes, animal husbandry cannot be called a social project.
The head of the livestock department of the Western cluster, Vitaliy Hrudetsky, named improving genetic potential, living conditions and attracting specialized specialists among the priority tasks of the agricultural holding in the development of livestock farming.
“If you find appropriate solutions, you can be sure that livestock farming is a profitable industry that generates revenue constantly throughout the year, unlike crop farming,” he said.
Epicenter Agro reported that in recent years they have improved the genetics of livestock in both clusters through a careful and reasonable selection of genetic material. Currently, the agricultural holding has Ukrainian black-and-white dairy, Jersey and Holstein among the main breeds of cattle. At the end of 2023, the cattle herd in the Northern cluster was almost 5,000 heads, in the Western cluster – 3,600 heads.
The average daily milk yield for the two clusters in test weight is 22.6 kg a day per forage cow, which is 10% more than planned. The low milk yield compared to other market players is explained by the obsolete material base of Soviet projects and low-productive cattle breeds, which, although being improved by European genetics, have not yet demonstrated high results.
The heads of both clusters rated the level of farm equipment as “average.”
The agricultural holding said that they annually improve the conditions for keeping and fattening livestock. In particular, in 2023, one barn was equipped with a rubber coating, a number of areas for keeping young animals, dead wood and keeping animals of different ages were concreted. For the farms of the Northern cluster, baling presses, feed mixers, straw cutters and mini tractors for hilling feed were purchased. In the Western cluster, feeding tables with suspended rest areas were built, and the second line of the milking parlor was put into operation. Feed mixers were also purchased, three barns were re-roofed, and two milk pipelines were purchased and installed.
“In conditions of low prices for commercial crop products and difficulties with their sales, livestock farming as the next link in the chain “from raw materials to the finished product” can be a profitable and promising direction,” Epicenter Agro said.
