Testimonial of Mikola Vasilchenko, manager of the "Agrofirma Mayak" company, Ukraine

Breeding pigs and dairy cows has always been the main activity of the "Agrofirma Mayak" farming business. With at its head the manager Mikola Vasilchenko, the former kolkhoz became a modern farm that is constantly developing and investing in the advanced agricultural technologies.

Mikola Vesilchenko's testimonial:

"In 2011, at the Agritechnica fair in Germany, we bought a JOSKIN Komfort2 slurry tanker of 18.000 l fitted with a Terraflex2 4400/11SHK3, a vacuum pump and safety devices for the tank and the pump. The tank is resting on a special independent chassis. Today, many manufacturers fix the supports (drawbar, stands for the linkage for an injector, etc.) on the tank itself in order to decrease the production costs. But because of that, the machine is less stable during manoeuvres on the road and less resistant to heavy works. Our tanker is also fully galvanized, which efficiently protects it against corrosion. Once again, some manufacturers are trying to make savings on the galvanization. According to me, they should not because it is not good for the metal, and therefore the tank, since slurry attacks the material.

Our double-axle tanker is fitted with a free steering axle, which provides high manoeuvrability to it, as well as with a linkage on which a Terraflex2 arable injector of 4,4 m can be placed. In this way, slurry can be directly injected in the ground. In short, the machine has an excellent quality/price ratio. The tanker, that is pulled by a 240 hp tractor, mainly works with pig slurry. We empty on average 10 to 12 tankers a day, that is to say 200 m³ spread at a rate of 30 m³/ha. When the season allows us to do so, we inject slurry in the ground at a depth of approx. 10 cm. We most often inject slurry after the harvest but also before sowing.

Spreading slurry allows us to give a great part of the nutrients to the fields: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium but also organic matter. In one single passage, we enrich our grounds for the immediate need of the plants but also on the long-term by bringing structure to our soils (organic matter). And this happens in an economical way: one single slurry tanker of 18 m³ contains the equivalent of € 152,6 of mineral fertilizers (for a slurry containing 6 kg of nitrogen with a NPK 15-15-15 purchase value of 400 €/t, slurry/mineral fertilizer equivalence coefficient of 0,53). Every day, we are spreading the equivalent of 1526 to 1834 € of mineral fertilizers, without taking into account the other elements that are brought to the soil (organic matter).

To conclude, the products of the JOSKIN brand are very reliable, high-performing and profitable. Furthermore, they are today the best on the local market. A breeder who wishes to work efficiently, won't find anything better."