On September 16-18 2015 the VI International Conference on Large Farm Management, organized by Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) and AgriEvent Agency together with the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) and the Eastern Committee of German Economy (OA) was held in Kyiv. The main purpose of the event was to discuss key aspects and problems of management in agribusiness. The conference was attended by over 300 representatives of the leading agricultural companies of Ukraine, CIS and European countries, international organizations and academic institutions.

The event was held in three stages: Scientific Day, Business Day and Business Tour.

Scientific Day (September 16) brought together leading scientists and representatives of education of the agricultural sector, who had the opportunity to share their latest scientific achievements and to discuss them in a circle of colleagues. At the session “Farm Sustainability, Efficiency and Productivity: Role of Technologies & Innovations”, moderated by Prof.Dr. Borys Sorochinsky, Head of the AgBiotech Committee, UCAB, speakers from Latin America shared experiences of their home countries in cultivation of GM crops. Speakers included Dr. Eugenio Julio Cap with the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA) in Argentina; Anderson Galvão, CEO of Céleres, Brazil.

Business Day (September 17) consisted of four plenary sessions. The first session "Agriculture in 2025: Implications for Strategic Management" covered the topics of global trends in agribusiness and the future of agricultural holdings.

"Ukrainian agricultural holdings are now at a historic crossroad. Agribusiness environment forces companies to choose: either to become highly efficient, competitive in world markets, launch their products with high added value, develop infrastructure and the areas they operate on, or to continue concentrating on the unjustified growth and accumulation of land that eventually is going to lead to their disappearance as organizational structures. So, the choice is now up to them, and we believe that agricultural holdings will choose the path of development. That is why we organize such events together with our partners - to find solutions and to help agricultural companies to increase their efficiency and survive in today's business environment", - General Director of the Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club" Taras Vysotskyi comments.

The second session "Soybean: GM or non-GM choice for large farm benefits?" addressed the issues of market potential of unmodified and traditional soy, the experience of producers of Latin America and Europe in cultivation of GM soya. Dr. Eugenio Cap with the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA) in Argentina provided a local case study of biotech crops; Anderson Galvão of Céleres gave a Brazilian case in fostering agricultural development and food security through agbio technologies.

According to Dr. Eugenio Julio Cap, “The first two decades of GM crops in Argentina (starting 1996) have been a period of significant benefits, not only for the agricultural sector itself, but for the economy as a whole”. This outcome has been the result of a number of determinants that converged to make it possible. By the time when these biotechnologies were made available, Argentina had already in place a set of required institutions, such as standards for risk and a biosafety assessment system. Another factor was the powerful (and unexpected) synergy resulting from the interaction between no-till practices and GM soybeans that allowed a massive expansion of the agricultural frontier (both actual and virtual).According to Anderson Galvão, Brazil ranks second after the USA in the adoption level of agbiotech, and accounts for the largest growth area in the last five years, seeking for the leadership in adoption of GM crops.

The representative of Danube Soya Association dwelled on benefits of traditional soya. According to the Co-founder and President of Danube Soya Association Matthias Kron, Ukrainian producers have all the chances of entering EU market of non-GM soya, which, in his opinion, will only grow.  

The session ended with fruitful discussion, with opinions that the market should determine the right choice of a technology, and the state should provide an appropriate legislative framework and access to the information.

The third session "Large Farm Organization and Structure" united lessons from Brazilian agricultural holding; standard errors of management in Ukrainian agricultural holdings; seagull management in agribusiness: practical examples; improving business processes of agricultural holdings.

"Any business, despite creative approaches implemented by the owner, goes through the main stages and events which help to achieve its goals. Each cycle has its own efficiency zone and basic mistakes that are worth paying attention. If the process is properly arranged, the organization accumulates its experience and knowledge and becomes more competitive from year to year. During the first three years, the company is engaged in construction of structure blocks and then fixes small mistakes. Here are some common mistakes that are most often made by managers of agricultural companies in Ukraine: lack of strategic planning, ignoring the risk of diversification and hedging, focusing on commodity markets, construction of vertical integration at any price", - Director on Agribusiness Consulting at Baker Tilly Sergiy Sizonenko says.

The fourth session "Farm Security: Fraud on Farms Prevention" was held in the format of panel discussion and covered the issues of combatting kickbacks, fraud and stealing from which Ukrainian agricultural holdings suffer, and also organization of effective operation of security service of enterprises. Managing partner of Aleksandrov and Partners Law Firm Dmytro Aleksandrov, Deputy Chairman of Svarog West Group Corporation Inna Meteleva, CEO of HarvEast Holding Dmitry Skornyakov, New Business Director of SLC Agricola (Brazil) Gustavo Lunardi, CEO of Vinnytsia Agro — Industrial Group Volodymyr Bartsos, owner of Agrodar agricultural company Roman Leshchenko took part in the discussion.

"Most companies that operate in agriculture, have reward schemes. That means that a person who sells a product or service is personally interested in selling it and is trying to get employee interested in any way. So we should try to minimize the human factor. All decisions on the procurement of goods or services are accepted by the tender committee, whose activities are strictly regulated, responsibilities are defined, and the possibility of improprieties is excluded. In addition, the operations with private entrepreneurs, that provide mostly cash transactions, are almost excluded. We work directly with manufacturing companies or their official trade representatives in Ukraine. The next mechanism is our own software solutions and automation of all business processes, monitoring in real time mode, that allows to conduct both operational accountance of using goods and services, received commodity production and control of their spending and arrivals", - Deputy Chairman of Svarog West Group Corporation Inna Meteleva comments.

Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club" 

3 floor, 146 Zhylianska Str.

01032 Kyiv, Ukraine

Phone/Fax: +380 44 2362097/79

feschenko@ucab.ua 

Anna Feshchenko

www.ucab.ua

The Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club" (UCAB) www.ucab.ua was founded in 2007 to protect the economic and professional interests of players of agribusiness in Ukraine. UCAB is a unique platform in Ukraine for establishing business contacts between the leaders of agribusiness, improvement their work and dialogue with the government. UCAB actively supports Ukrainian producers in establishing and maintaining international business relations. The Association consists of the largest producers and processors of agricultural products in Ukraine.