Today we will tell you how the farm was created in the village of Konush, Haskovo region; how the owner – Dr. Ismail Mustafov for a quarter of a century with a lot of effort, labor and own funds turned an abandoned barn into a modern farm with purebred animals, Simmental breed.
We are greeted by his daughter Hazel Ismailova, who follows in her father’s footsteps and besides taking care of the animals on the farm, she also has her own veterinary office. When she greets us, we have no idea how many interesting things this smiling lady will tell us. We sit down for a cup of coffee and you will find out later.
– Hello, Hazel! Excuse us for taking you away from our daily commitments and thank you for taking the time to do so. Tell us about yourself and the history of your family farm.
– Hello, my name is Hazel Ismailova and I am a veterinarian. Our farm has over 25 years of history. Before it became our property, animals were kept here, which my father took care of as a veterinarian. Their owner was a young, inexperienced farmer, and the cows were harvested from different farms. The base was inherited from the former cooperative farm – abandoned and unmaintained stables. The method of cultivation has been criticized. My father was desperate for the condition of the animals in terms of nutrition, milking and health status. After the owners gave up the farm, my father decided to save the animals. There were about 30 of them. After many years of famine, cold, misery and thousands of hardships, he decided to run the farm and take care of the animals. At that time we had no tillage equipment, no subsidies, no breeding associations.
So our family started farming. My father is at the core of everything. I was in high school then. Later I went to university with a degree in veterinary medicine and at that time I had no other interest in raising animals on the farm, except in connection with my specialty.
The difficulties began when they introduced requirements for cleaner milk and animal welfare. Of course, the requirements are quite adequate, but in Bulgaria everything is done without thinking about the farmers. My father realized that we needed to produce our own feed. Gradually we started buying small plots and fields. The equipment we had was very old – also left over from the former cooperative farm. I remember a small tractor that broke down every week. Nevertheless, we managed thanks to a lot of effort.
– How many and what kind of animals did you have then?
We had about 50 animals – mostly black and colored. Most were raised in extremely poor conditions before becoming part of our farm and had many health problems – mastitis, endometritis and others.
After graduating from the University of Forestry in Sofia, I met former students of my father, who were engaged in embryo transfer in Kostinbrod. Their activity was mainly theoretical. Dr. Yancho Todorov connected me with the center in Germany, where he made the first cloned calf. He still works in Kostinbrod with his wife. At that time I had a great desire to deal with genetics, in vitro embryos, etc. During my one-month stay at this center, two doctoral students worked on their dissertations. Along with them, I had the opportunity to get acquainted in practice with the process of obtaining embryos and embryo transfer. The main activity of the institute is embryo transfer and production and sale of seed material. The embryos were not registered, but purely experimental – for the doctoral studies of one of the doctoral students. They even allowed me to help a little. It was an extremely interesting and very useful experience for me! Everything happens in the lab. The ovaries are planed, primary eggs are taken, inseminated and blastocysts are obtained, which are frozen. Neither a cow nor a bull is physically involved in the process, only cells. A lot of embryos were obtained. Then my father came to buy seed and it so happened that we were allowed to take the embryos as well. The eggs were from Simmental animals and were inseminated with material from the best bulls at the institute.
We decided to do the embryo transfer ourselves. In in vitro embryos, the maximum success rate is about 25%, because most of them do not survive after all the freezing and thawing to which they are subjected. We got very good results that exceeded these percentages. This is how our first Simmental animals were born from surrogate mothers – brown American cattle. Our experiment proved successful. This was a very good option, as my father did not want to import pregnant animals from abroad and take the risk of acclimatization.
It is very difficult in our region. There are many endemic diseases associated with parasites and in particular ticks. Until we started producing enough fodder for the animals, they were grazing, which is a prerequisite for the development and spread of various infectious diseases. Grazing is deadly to animals coming from abroad because one tick is enough to kill a cow in two days. Diseases such as babesiosis and those caused by blood parasites in our region are extremely severe and rapid. Animals that did not grow up here and do not have immunity simply do not survive and do not survive. The summer season is a scourge for cattle breeders here. Local animals also get sick, but an Austrian animal without immunity is almost impossible to withstand these diseases, let alone high temperatures. In our region during the summer months it is very hot and dry. Grazing animals are at great risk and fail to obtain the necessary nutrients.
The first condition for a modern high-yield dairy farm is that the animals do not rely on grazing. Since we have been breeding them freely, they are healthy – there are no ticks and parasites and we have full control over the optimal quantity and quality of the food they eat. Rough feed is dried or ensiled and there is no way for infections to pass through it.
– You said that animals are bred freely boxed. Can you tell us about the technology for growing with you in more detail.
– All the animals on the farm were born here. We have not imported or purchased from other farms. We do not buy or sell female animals. All heifers born here remain on the farm and are raised for milk production. Unless an accident occurs or they breed for a year. This usually happens with freemartins. If we fail to inseminate them, we send them for slaughter. As for newborn calves – they stay 2-3 days with the mother. Colostrum is very important in ruminants.
As I said – in our farm we produce everything ourselves and as my father proudly says, we only buy electricity and salt! In fact, we also buy beer porridge. Animals love her very much. We give to the dairy cows both in the morning and in the evening.
The animals are divided into groups by boxes – dairy, dry, heifers – not inseminated or in early pregnancy. There is also a small group of cows in advanced pregnancy. Simmentals usually carry a little. There are no more than 5-6 animals in the maternity ward.
The calves are divided into age groups. The youngest are initially mixed – both male and female. After being separated from the mother, the newborns are moved indoors, where they are fed real, fresh milk in the morning and evening. We also give them a starter pellet for calves.
We have been raising animals free-boxing for more than 15 years and the advantages are many. In the first place are healthy – no contact with external animals and parasites. In addition, they receive enough food according to a prepared recipe, which immediately affects the quantity and quality of milk. Cows do not get tired, do not lose weight. They have enough space and constant access to food and water. High temperatures also do not affect them to such an extent. Stress levels are drastically reduced. We have a milking parlor, herringbone type. We plan to buy a new milk storage tank in the future.
The recipes are prepared personally by my father. The ration is prepared in a mixer in which it is mixed with the concentrated feed. Quality corn silage is extremely important. In order to maintain a farm, it must be constantly modernized. We have a new baler and mixer. We bought silos for storing grain and corn this year. To invest in quality food, a lot of investment is needed.
Hygiene is very important in the milking parlor, and in this connection we have great difficulty in finding staff to maintain cleanliness and take care of the needs of the animals, as required by proper breeding. And the most modern milking parlor, if not maintained by conscientious and qualified people, will have serious problems. This, as far as I know, is a problem not only for us or in our sphere, but ubiquitous for the state. I do not see how it will be decided honestly. I know that in France there are technical schools that train people in proper care and hygienic maintenance, but there the attitude to this work is completely different. This is very difficult to achieve here.
– Tell us about the first Simmental calves on the farm – those that are the result of embryonic transfer. This is an unparalleled experience in our association. How did they develop?
– The first calf was female and her name was Great! It appeared in all the newspapers, as it was news at the time. She later gave birth to more than 10 calves and lived a very long time. Embryo calves were no different from the others. They developed quite normally and gave birth to our Simmental herd. We left several of the male calves as bulls for natural insemination. We no longer practice it. For several years we have been inseminating only artificially. We used to use the bulls only in case of a problem with breeding.
– Have you then performed an embryo transfer?
– No, we got over 30 calves and that was enough for us. We currently have over two hundred animals of the breed. Most are purebred Simmental and a few crosses. We also cross with Aberdeen and get calves that we raise for meat. We sell a few bulls for breeding, and all the others are for meat.
– What difficulties do you encounter in your daily work?
– Mainly with the documentation. We have a problem with the timely coverage of events on the farm. The electronic system of the BFSA also creates a lot of difficulties for us.
– Did you build the farm on your own or did you apply for a support program?
– Everything is built only with own funds. Dr. Mustafov is one of those people who rely and believe only in their own efforts and capabilities. Many years of work, repairs and improvements have been invested in the farm. There were many difficulties, but today we do not depend on anyone and we do not have unbearable obligations that we have to serve, as is unfortunately the case with many colleagues. This, in my opinion, is a great burden.
Each member of our family has taken on a lot of responsibilities to get the job going and we don’t have any time for additional documentation. Applying for programs is subject to a huge amount of paperwork and associated obligations, and the result is not always positive. We prefer to rely only on ourselves. The bureaucratic obstacles hinder us from the very beginning when submitting documents for any support.
The bureaucracy burdens us in every way without any argument. We had an inspection a few years ago. They took pictures, counted the animals and everything was fine, but there was a problem why some of the animals were recorded as Simmentals in the passports and their color was gray-white or black. I tried to explain to the employee that in our farm all the animals are of traceable origin, as they were born on the farm and we have documentation of over 15 years for their pedigree – mothers, fathers, grandmothers, etc. I explained that coloring should not bother them, as it does not in any way deny belonging to the breed of the animal, especially with a clear pedigree.
There are many other signs and characteristics that can tell if an animal is a Simmental or another breed. The problem, however, is that people are sent for inspections who are in no way qualified to give such assessments. They have no education to make them competent in animal husbandry, veterinary medicine or selection. How to explain to such a person !? They have powers for which they have no qualifications. Do they have any catalogs and like Japanese tourists with cameras compare and show what is Simmental and what is not. Complete absurdity! I had to write a written objection to Sofia requesting that I be re-inspected, but this time by qualified personnel so that the breed could be adequately identified, although at that time we did not receive aid for selected animals and have no claims for 100% purity of the breed. In this regard, no one should have claimed us, because we received subsidies under the QMS.
I was left with the impression that they just want to create a problem for us, no matter what, and if I had not formally objected, we would have suffered the consequences of biased inspection of unqualified personnel. Thanks to my objection and re-inspection, we escaped without penalty. In general, a series of meaningless and petty activities that also cost the state money. Many farmers do not have the time and opportunity to challenge injustices and are forced to pay for inadequate assessments. I have no words!
The most recent case of such an absurd situation is how immediately after the submission of documents for support, their system was locked. In the meantime, two of our animals were sent for slaughter and we wanted to replace one and give up the other. It turned out to be impossible, as I quote “We don’t have a button with which you can opt out of support at the moment. The button doesn’t work for us, we’re sorry! ”, And we had ten days to do it so that we wouldn’t be sanctioned afterwards, but it happened because” the button doesn’t work for them! “
– Are they so punctual and petty when they have to provide you with administrative or other assistance?
– As a matter of fact, here at the local level the employees are extremely responsive and executive and there is nothing to complain about. However, the problems are central and come from the fact that regulations and instructions are written by incompetent people. This demotivates people a lot and rightly so. If, for example, passports will become such a big problem for us, it is better not to give them to us at all. Aren’t all the animals in the system !? This year in the system in question the breed did not come out at all when we applied for support.
– Let’s talk about your cooperation with NARMS. How long have you been a member of the association?
– We have been members recently, only for 2 years, because I was not in Bulgaria, and none of my relatives wanted to deal with additional documentation. When I returned, I realized that there was already such an association and I could register all the animals and make their pedigree official. Selection and administrative assistance is very important to us. In order to move in the right direction, such control is needed. I can list the random plans, the monthly records of the events on the farm, the seed material and many other indisputable advantages of working with the association. Without this, it cannot develop a modern economy.
The advice we receive is extremely valuable in every way. We have an excellent technical asistant in the region – Maria Karadalieva! Extremely competent, accurate, executive and responsive! She helped us in many ways and without being part of her duties. She helped me with every problem, even with the registration of animals. She knows every animal on the farm. It stores and helps us with information from years ago. He pays attention to detail and knows every event better than I do. It is obvious that he loves and tries hard in his work! I respect her very much and I am glad that she is our partner in the face of the association!
So far we meet only positives and membership turned out to be a really right decision!
– What a positive ending to this interesting conversation! You did not spare us both the positive and not so pleasant moments of your daily life and you charged us with a lot of positive energy. Thank you for the frankness and for this different story you told us!