Buy A Goat
- 8.07.2025, 18:37
On Lukashenko's new hobby.
Lukashenka demanded to eliminate deadwood by September 1: "to remove logs standing out at the edge of the forest" to prevent the loss of valuable timber. He saw the problem during his working trip to Mogilev region. And he also saw opportunities for the region's long-suffering economy. This is goat breeding, writes planbmedia.io.
Wood for the People
"What kind of mismanagement is this? They took out the forest and abandoned it," Lukashenko said indignantly. - To make sure that by September 1 there will not be a single log lying on the edge of the forest in the country."
And to prevent the wood from rotting, Lukashenko instructed, among other things, to transfer the fallen forest to the population.
Besides timber, he plunged into the problems of breeding breeding goats. And even received two goats as a gift.
Sell a goat
In 2021, Belarus began work on the creation of a breeding plant. For this purpose, 350 goats and 20 goats of Zaanen and Alpine breeds were brought to Belarus. The aim of the project is import substitution of goat breeding products, as well as export of a new type of breeding products. There have already been sales to Uzbekistan, there are applications from Russia.
Lukashenko demanded to turn around faster.
"Why not to do it, why not to intensify the process? It's a good business, promising, there is demand," he emphasized.
And Lukashenko demands to increase the livestock as soon as possible. "There should be a doubling (by mid-2026) as long as there is demand. Here they are, the living money," he said.
"We have to go to the maximum. If there is a moment to make money, one should make money, occupy the market," Lukashenko demanded. He emphasized that this applies not only to goat breeding, but also to other areas in agriculture. "We are negligent about agriculture - we revel in the fact that we have enough of everything and sell almost $7 billion. And there is no movement beyond that. That's how it is here," he said. - The business will not go on like this, that we are working neither shakily nor unsteadily.
The problems with goat breeding, however, have already manifested themselves in the key personnel issue. The Mogilev state enterprise has no general director yet, after the previous head moved to the post of chairman of the Goretsky district executive committee.
Lukashenko tasted goat milk and cheeses made from it. "Excellent milk. And it is very important for children," he said. - Nutrition is first of all psychology. You have to get into a person's head with this cheese. And prove to him that it is very useful."
What about sheep breeding?
Breeding goats is not Lukashenko's first attempt to capitalize on not the most traditional industries. In spring 2012, he demanded to prepare a plan for the development of sheep breeding within a short period of time.
Then it was calculated: about 5 thousand tons of wool is required to fully load the enterprises of light industry. This requires 1.5 million sheep. But the Ministry of Agriculture stated that there is practically no industrial sheep breeding in the country.
The newspaper "Belarus Today" wrote that in the late 80s of the last century there were 400 thousand sheep in Belarus, we were mainly engaged in wool. But after the collapse of the Union, sheep farms had a problem with its realization. Therefore, in the early 90's the number of sheep decreased 8 times.
How did the industry develop after the President's instruction in 2012? The Republican program of sheep breeding development for 2013-2015 was developed. Its goal is to increase the number of sheep to 100 thousand, to produce 260 tons of wool and 1.5 thousand tons of meat in live weight per year.
For 2013-2017, about 3 thousand heads of various breeds were imported from abroad. 14 breeding farms were created for sheep breeding. By the end of 2015 there were only 84 thousand heads in Belarus and only at the end of 2017 it was possible to reach the target 100 thousand. In 2018, the number fell to 87 thousand. By the beginning of 2026, the number of sheep is planned to increase again - up to 170 thousand.
In 2019, the newspaper "Belarus Today" stated: "First, wool in Belarus is produced not just little, but miser. Secondly, we have predominantly meat breeds of sheep, their wool is coarse and not always suitable for light industry enterprises, which are oriented to the needs of the market." The interlocutors of the edition see the way out in creation of domestic breed of sheep, which would be adapted to our climate and have high quality wool. But this is a task for a decade.
What if goats shoot?