TECHNIQUES OF FODDER PRODUCTION IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000600190003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 19
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 9, 2002
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: REPORT

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I
i TECHNIQUES OF FODDER PRODUCTION
j IN THE USSR
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Techniques of Fodder Production
in the USSR
USSR agricultural production has a significant impact on world food
supply and marketing. Project has developed a system for predict-
ing Soviet spring wheat production. The r Is ystem uses modeling,
meteorology, collateral, to produce the estmates. During the
research phase, it became apparent t at the iialysts can improve
their analysis if they understand the whc,e of Soviet crop agriculture, rather
than just those processes involving spring wheat.
This report provides information on Soviet fodder production. Two
aspects of fodder production may be related iirectly to wheat production and
utilization . Since hay is one of the first crops harvested during a growint;
season. it can provide early indications of general crop stress. Secondly,
fodder is used to feed the growing livestock herds in the USSR. Fodder crop
failure would require that more wheat be either diverted to fodder or used
feed grain.
Approximately 30 percent of the sown area in the USSR is devoted to fodder
crops. Dodder production has an impact on the Soviet goal to increase the
amount of animal protein in its people's diet. A poor foclcler crop, poor fodder
harvesting tecluliques, spoilage of stored fodder, or improper fodder iced mix
all serve to limit the quantity and quality of Soviet livestock .
The main categories of fodder include hay, haylage, grass meal. silage,
and food industry by-products. rodder crops include perennial grasses,
annual grasses , cereal grains , corn , su?1 fiowers , fodder beets , and melons .
Fodder crops may be planted in the fall , as are winter cereal grains, or
in the spring, as corn and sunflowers are. In the suutliern part of the country.
many annual grasses are planted as a catch crop following the winter grain
harvest. Mid-season care may include. irrigation. fertilization, and insecticide
application.
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The Soviets planned to produce more than 60 million tons of hay in 1974.
Hay is grass which is normally mowed. sundried, gathered, transported , and
stored in haystacks, towers, or haylofts.
During the peak haying period of mid-June, it may be possible to
predict potential cereal-grain yields for a given area by measuring lay yields
at that time.
Haylage is grass which is cut. chopped green, and stores] in scaled silos
at a moisture content usually below 50 percent. Storage requirements rol-
silage areess stringent than for haylage since silage will produce lactic acid,
l
a natural preservative. Haylagc, however, must be scaled and protected from
the outsi(._e environment if long-term storage is to be achieved with minimum
spoilage.
Grass meal is a high-protein animal food derived from complete rc~ Duval
of moisture from the green matter by artificial dehydration . After the green
matter is dehydrated into a flour. it may be either bagged or further processed
in granulators with other feed additives to form a monor'eed .
Silage, like haylage, is g. ccn matter which ;s cut, chopped green. and
stored in scaled silos usually with a moisture content above 50 percent. It is
protected from spoilage by the formation of lactic acid. Cereal-grain straw
may also be made into silage.
Other fodder materials include many waste products from field crop
industries. Tops. stems. and leaves
harvesting and from the food processing
of sugar- beets. sunflowers, grain corn. cereal-grain straw, and vegetable
crops are the most important.
Grain-fed animals are high in productivity and food duality: because of
the Soviet efforts to increase livestock procluction, the trend is to increase the
amount of feed grains and to decrease the importance of fodder. They intend
to accomplish these goals by increasing the area sown to feed grains (barley,
oats , and wheat) , by decreasing the area so?..'n to fodder crops while increasing
the yield per hectare, by increasing fodder duality through the application of
mode-?n technology . and by increasing the utilization and management of natural
meadows and grazing land.
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1. The major fodder crops in the So, i =t Union include all crops, whether
sown or uncultivated, which are harvested, or hay, haylage, gi ass meal, or
silage. Fodder crops include perennial g -..,sses, annual grasses, cereal
grains, corn, sunflowers, fodder beets, ? r. '. melons. Altogether, there are
approximately 3, 000 different types of foi:ier used in the Soviet Union today.
2. In 1973, of the total 215 millior hectares that were sown in the USSR,
63.4 million hectares, or 29 percent, w - ,--e sown to fodder crops. 1 Of this,
about 36 percent was sown to perenn;al ,rasses, 27 percent of annual grasses
and winter grain (for fodder) , 27 percd nt to corn and other silage crops, and
3 percent to other forage crops (roo-s . melons, etc.). Soviet figures do not
account for the remaining 7 percent.
3. In addition to crops sown f:. fodder, the USSR has vast areas of
meadow and grazing land totaling son.e 300 million hectares. Nearly 50 million
hectares of this land is mowed for hl;-,, annually.2
SOURCE'; OF FODDER
Grasses
Grains
Legumes O
ther
Fescue
Barley
Peas S
ugar beets
Sudan
Wheat
Beans P
._itatoes
Orchard
Oats
Soybeans M
elons
Wheat
Rye
Vetch V
egetables
Brome
Corn
Bird's foot
trefoil
Bent
Sunflowers
Alfalfa
Timothy
Canary
Couch
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Feather
Millet
Sorghum
Clover
4. Since the Khrushchev regime. Soviet agricultural philosophy has
attempted to respond more and more to the wishes of the Russian consumer.
Wheat and livestock production in the USSR has risen dramatically as the Soviet
people demand more and more white bread and meat products. Correspond-
ingly, the production of animal feeds and wheat has had to increase appreciably
to provide for the growing requirements. Although the total fodder crop area
and production are declining, a good fodder harvest and improved storage of
the crop remains necessary for sustaining the animal herds during the winter
stall period , which lasts from November through April throughout most of the
Soviet Union. As a hedge against poor crop years . many kolkhozes and
sovkhozes try to maintain a 1;; - 2 years' supply of fodder.
5. The 1974 Soviet, fodder production plans call for more than 60
million tons of ha}', nearly 60 million tons of haylage. 3 million tons of grass
meal, more than 20 million tons of silage, and about 50 million tons of root
crops
FODDER CROPS4
Perennial Grasses (1971) - Area 21 .725,000 hectares (ha
)
P
o
ercent
Area
f 'I otal
9,950.(1
50
ha
Clove- -
4
5
975.0
4
2.5
ha
Alfalfa -
2
,
2.91",
Wheat grass -
1
0.11", 2,194,2
25
ha
1.433.8
50
ha
Quack grass -
6.6.,
1,042,8
00
ha
Sainfoir, -
4.8,,
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Brome grass
Timothy - 3.9%
890,725 ha
847,275 ha
391,050 ha
Annual Grasses (1971) - Area 17,959.000 hectares
Percent
of Total
Annual grass - 32.1% 5,764,839 ha
Corn for silage - 25. 1% 4,507,790 ha
Winter crops - 19.21 3,448.128 ha
for green
fodder
Vetch and vetch - 9.4% 1,688,146 ha
mixes
Sudan grass - 8.81,580,392 ha
Foxtail millet -
4.2%, 754 , 278 ha
Other -
1.2? 215,508 ha
Planting and Mid-Season Care
6. A significant percentage of the tall-planted winter cereal grains,
mainly rye and wheat, are planted specifically for use as fodder. Perennial
forage grasses an(] legumes usually are overseede(l on cereal fields in very
early spring. At lower latitudes (in lower Ukraine) perennial forages also may
be sown alone in late summer following early-harvested small grains. Annual
forage grasses are planted in early spring using either the standard, grain
sued drills or special grass drills. Corn, sedan grass, and millet for silage are
planted in spring after the danger of frost. Both silage crops and annual
grasses may be planted as a catch crop in the southern part of the country
following the harvest of winter grains.
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7. Mid-season care may include irrigation , fertili ration , and insecticide
application. Irrigation methods include sheet irrigation , central-pivot sprink-
lers, boom sprinklers , flexible hose sprinklers , and wide-radius sprinklers
I I Fertilizers include manure and various mineral fertilizers.
Insecticides arc applied on a basis of need and availability.
8. Hay crops are grasses which are normally mowed, sunciried, gather-
ed, transported, and stored in either open haystacks , or in haylofts. Ilay- is
harvested throughout the country, either from sown fields or from natural
growth in uncultivated areas. Uncultivated ireas include areas adjacent to
airfield runways. along roadways and electric powerlinc right-of-ways. alone
stream banks and drainage draws, in low wet spots in cultivated fields, and
on military posts .
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9. Hay is harvested from mid-June through September with the peak
first cutting occurring from 15-20 June in the south and southeastern parts of
the country, up to mid-July in the north. Generally, two or more cuttings
may be accomplished. Several cuttings, up to five or six for clover and
alfalfa, may be made on irrigated fields.
10. Hay is first cut and left in the field for a few hours to several days
for drying. Leaving the cut hay too long results in overdrying or risk of rain
with a loss of valuable nutrients.
11 . Most of the hay is mowed with a single, tractor-mounted, cutting b,7-
25X1 D Some hay is cut with a tractor-drawn machine consisting of three,
offset cutting bars with an attached hayrake. There is also a second type of
tractor-drawn machine which cuts and rakes the hay in one operation. The hay
also may be cut and windrowwed by both the conventional , cereal-t;rair: , swath-
ing machine or a grain combine with special scathing head attachment. In hard
to get places, the haying operation is done by hand, using the cutting scythe
25X1D and pitchfork IAfter mowed hay has dried, it is winch?ou?ed usinc
12. After the hay has been windrowed, it is usually collected by a hay
pickup and stacking machine which collects and stacks the hay in small circu-
lar stacks along the previous windrow. A trailer pickup hay baler, such as
the PSB-1.6, may also be used This baler picks up the windrowed
hay and forms it into small , rectangular, pressed bales tied with wire. The
stacks and bales are later lifted onto hay wagons or trucks by a tractor-nmournted
front-fork loader and hauled to an area usually adjacent to the animal puns where
it is either stored in large rectangular haystacks or in haylofts. A direct
pickup-loader may also be used on the windro\vcd hay. This machine picks
ill) and loads the loose hay directly ontc, a truck or wagon.
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14. On occasion, the hay is not allowed to fully dry in the fields. This
hay is dried by a method known as "active" ventilation which may result in 1. 5
times more nutrients than hay dried entirely by the sun. The mowed hay is
allowed to dry to 40 percent moisture content in the field; then for final drying,
the hay is artificially dried with warm forced air. This artificial drying takes
place in the storage area. Baled hay may also be subjected to active ventilation.
15. An alternate method of storing hay is in the besstennaya tower.
This tower is 30 meters high and consists of an inner cap which is lifted cr
lowered, depending on the level of hay within the tower. There is also an
inner hollow shaft for ventilation. The hay is cut and partially dried in the
field to 35-40 percent moisture. It is then gathered, chopped, and loaded into
the tower where the active ventilation system dries it to the desired moisture
content.
Haylage
16. Haylage is grass which is cut and chopped green, dried to below
50 percent moisture content, and then stored in scaled vertical silos or in
covered trenches. The moisture content is not high enough for formation of
lactic acid, as is the case for silage.
17. Haylage is harvested throughout the country. In recent years, this
form of animal feed has become increasingly important. The cutting perio,.: for
haylage is generally the same as for hay with middle-to-late June being the
optimum.
18. Haylage differs from hay in that the cut green matter is not allowed
to dry completely in the field. Most haylage is obtained from cereal grasses,
clover, and alfalfa. Cereal grasses are cut at the heading stage of the panicles.
Clover and alfalfa are cut at the budding stage at the start of flowering. The
green matter is usually cut with the E-280 ensilage harvester and later chopped
into small pieces with a chopper/mincer machine. The green matter may be cut
and chopped at the same time with a YE-065, YE-067, or a KS- I .8 silage combine
I I These machines cut the crop from the field, chop it into small
pieces, an low it into a screened trailer. The trailer is towed to the area of
the stockyard where the green-chop is stored in belowground trenches , above-
ground ricks , or in haylage towers.
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19. The desired moisture content of the haylage is 45-50 percent for
cereal grasses and 50-60 percent for leguminous forages. Filling the haylage
trench should be completed as soon as possible (three to four days) so that
spoiling and internal heating do not have time to begin. As soon as the trench
is filled, the haylage is covered with a 20-30 cm thick laver of freshly mowed
ground , well-packed moist grass for insulation , a layer of polyethylene film,
10-15 cm of soil. Finally, a half meter of straw is placed over the whole mass
25X1D I I Insulated from oxygen of the air, the haylage nutrients do ne,
c e c A kilogram of good haylage contains 50-60 grams of _ligestible
protein and 30-40 milligrams of carotene. Haylage may also be stored in
vertical , scaled silo towers similar to hay towers but having no ventilation
system . Advantages of tower silo storage are case of access to and distribution
of the food material.
20. An alternate method of storing haylage, when silo trenches and
towers are not available, is in aboveground ricks (surface trenches) enclosed
with sideboards and covered with earth or other material. Surface trenches
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are built only in localities with a very high ground-water level. This method
is not advisable in other areas because the material does not receive the
insulation provided by trenches or towers; deterioration of the nutrients is
likely.
Silage
21. Silage is cut green, chopped, and stored in belowground trenches
or tower silos. Silage differs from haylage mainly in the type of crop and the
moisture content of the stored material. The moisture content for silage
should be 65-67 percent.
22. Corn is an important silage crop in the Ukrainian SSR and the
northern latitudes. Sunflowers and soybeans are intercropped with corn in
the Crimea for silage. Sunflowers and sorghum are important in Siberia.
Forty-four percent of the silage in Omsk Oblast is composed of sunflowers.
23. The silage crop is cut and chopped in the field using a YE-065,
YE-Oa7, or KS-1.8 silage combine. The chopped maicrial is blown into a
screened trailer which is then towed to a prepared silage trench. The silage
trench is filled and covered .with a polyethylene film and 30-40 cm of dirt. The
silage is protected from spoilage by accumulation of lactic acid formed during
early stages of silage fermentation. Temperatures between 250 anti 35?C are
most favorable for this fermentation.
24. Occasionally, straw or other haulm is mixed with the silage.
Alfalfa and peas added to corn silage increase the protein of the silage by
100 percent.
25. Cereal-grain straw with a 50 percent moisture content may be made
into silage by packing the straw in trenches and covering with earth 30-40 cm
thick. Adding whey and carbamide increases the protein of the straw silage
by 25 percent.
26. Grass meal is a high-protein animal food derived from field crops
dried artificially. The green material is fed into an AVAI-0.4 or SB-1 .5, grass
meal, drying unit which dries it into a flour, which is bagged or processed
in granulators along with grain , vitamins, minerals , and other feed additives
to form a monofeed. Man crass meal operations are collocated with feed mix
Plant
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27. Refuse from field crop harvesting and processing may also be used
as fodder. Waste products from sugar beets, sunflowers, grain corn, cereal
grain, and vegetable crops are the most important. Threshed sunflower heads
contain 1. 5 times more digestible protein than corn grain. It can be made into
meal or a component of silage. Beet and potato tops, stems and leaves from
vegetables and melon crops make very valuable meal and silage. Twelve to
15 tons of to- - may be obtained from a single hectare of sugar beets.
28. In some areas barle and millet straw are baled 'vith pickup balers
and fed directly to animals Wheat straw, however, is not as
nutritious and not normally a e . It is usually collected and stacked for use
as bulk feed to supplement concentrated monofeeds. Wheat straw contains
only 38 pc!-cent of the food value of an equal unit weight of barley straw.
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Trends in Soviet Fodder Production
29. Although the Soviets plan to increase the size and quality of
their animal herds, total USSR fodder requirements are decreasing; there is
an effort to decrease the number of hectares of arable land sown to fodder
crops. The increases in livestock feed requirements are expected to conic
from the following: expanded use of feed grains (barley, oats, and wheat) ;
raising ttiie yield per hectare of sown fodder crops; improving the quality of
fodder through the application of modern technology in procurement, process-
ing, and storage; and better utilization and management of natural meadow
and grazing land.
30. Feed grain cultivation is expanding rapidly to provide for greater
livestock feed requirements. The 1974-75 projected feed use cf grain is 108
million metric ton-,. Barley is the primary feed grain roduced in the USSR
today. Fifty-five million tons were produced for feed in 1973. An additional
32 million tons of wheat5 and 17. 5 million tons of oats' are harvested for feed
grains annually.
31. The Soviets are increasing the use of irrigation and applications
of both mineral and organic fertilizers to raise the yield per hectare of fodder
crops . Research and development for better strains of seed continues:
advanced methods of fodder hai vesting, processing, and storage are recom-
mended to farmers. Deviations from accepted fodder procurement methods
are pointed out quickly in Soviet newspapers.
32. Emphasis is shifting from hay to haylage and vitamninized grass
meal because of their higher food value; the use of forced-ventilation hay-
driers is growing and deliveries of other modern equipment are increasing.
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