Q&A with Farmscan AG’s technician, Yevhenii Baranetskyi

Here at Farmscan AG, we are proud to support the people of Ukraine, particularly during these difficult times. To help us to understand how we can better provide assistance and ongoing communication with our Ukrainian clients, we sat down with our Logistics and Development Support Technician, Yevhenii Baranetskyi.

In April 2022, Yevhenii left Kherson, his hometown in southern Ukraine, and after spending several months in Turkey, he later joined our team here in the UK.

Q: Thanks for chatting with us Yevhenii! For those who don’t know the ins and outs of what a technician does, tell us a little about what you do with us here at Farmscan AG.

Initially, my main task with the Farmscan AG team was to support our existing Ukrainian clients on service issues. In addition to this, I also provided assistance in implementing our products for the specific requests of our clients.

Given my 8 years of experience in Ukraine working in the development of electronics for agriculture, these tasks came naturally to me.

With time, my work became more diversified. With such a unique client base with specific requirements and uses for our products, no two days are the same! Now my tasks involve aiding the development team in both creating new products, and updating older ones, and also helping organise logistics for our Ukrainian clients. This is particularly challenging during such a difficult time due to Russia’s war against my home country.

I’m thrilled to work in a team that allows me to pitch new ideas on how we can better customise and improve our products to suit the needs of the farmers of Ukraine.

Q: You mentioned working on the development of electronics in the Ukraine for close to a decade, can you tell us more about what made you pursue this career?

I have been fascinated by electronics and computers for as long as I can remember. So, when it came time to choose a direction for my education and career, this path was a no-brainer.

During my years as a student, I crossed paths with a local company that specialised in producing electronics for agriculture. With the encouragement of some of my classmates, who were working at this company at the time, I put myself forward for a role that would have me testing the equipment ahead of an intensive agricultural season. After successfully landing the role, I quickly began my journey with precision farming.

After several years of working as a developer, I received an offer from another company that would have me leading and working on the creation of a new liquid fertiliser system.

After a year of working at this company, myself and a large team of professionals from various industries managed and developed what would become one of the most popular and functional systems in Ukraine for applying liquid fertilizers.

At the core of my collective experiences, I have always been driven to work on projects and products that have had the best interests of the farmers at their core. It is especially rewarding to personally see the results of my work, and recognise the benefits it brings to the farmers of Ukraine.

Q: With such a diverse climate, what types of crops do the farmers grow in Ukraine?

The climate conditions vary quite a bit across the different regions of Ukraine, and as a result, the agricultural crops also differ. Ukraine is a unique country in the sense that you can successfully grow a large number of any crop. Ukrainian farmers are obviously well aware of the differing characteristics of the soil in their regions and are resourceful in applying different methods and technologies to achieve excellent (and sometimes record) yields.

To give you a better idea of the diverse crops grown in Ukraine, in the southern regions, where I come from, the cultivation of sunflowers, watermelons and melons is very common.

In the central and western regions, corn cultivation is more popular, as there is more natural rainfall.

In all regions, various varieties of wheat and other grain crops are actively grown.

Climate change is also a key factor that must also be taken into account and presents its own challenges for our farmers. Sometimes farmers from Ukraine need to draw conclusions from past seasons in order to decide which grain crop to choose for sowing next season.

Overall, I wouldn’t single out any specific popular crops. Each Ukrainian farmer can grow almost any crop in the Ukrainian black soil, using the necessary agrarian technologies.

Q: Are there any prominent technologies Ukraine farmers are using that are unique to their farming duties?

In Ukraine, you can find absolutely all types of tillage and fieldwork methods. From classical ploughing to No-Till, to the application of classical dry fertilizers and bio-preparations. Almost every Ukrainian farmer has several fields for experimentation.

As I mentioned, Ukrainian farmers are very dynamic and resourceful and are always looking for ways to improve their fieldwork. Analysing the results of their experiments on their demo fields is an effective way of choosing the right technology to achieve the best, most cost-effective results.

Q: What type of work are you doing with Farmscan AG to support Ukrainian farmers in these challenging times?

Despite the difficulties with Russia’s war against Ukraine, we are always in touch with our clients. Due to the ongoing missile attacks, communication (and even electricity) is unstable so we ensure that we are available to provide assistance and advice at any time of the day.

With fast delivery to Ukraine not possible by air, we make sure we help each client as much as we possibly can with the logistics for the delivery of their orders.

With the support of our clients, we have also developed an updated, patriotic Ukrainian design for our Jackal Controller, which is very popular among our Ukrainian customers.

At Farmscan AG, despite all the difficulties due to the war, we are trying to meet the needs of our customers from Ukraine. As a citizen of Ukraine, I am pleased to be involved in my favourite work and to continue to help the farmers of my native country to achieve the best results.

The Farmscan AG team together with Ukraine!

Команда Farmscan AG разом з Україною!

Want to learn more about how we are supporting Ukraine farmers?

Speak with the team today! Contact us here