USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) provided five telehandlers to members of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, Ukraine’s largest public association of more than 1,200 small and medium-sized agribusinesses from across the country.
These telehandlers will bolster operations at Agrofirma Dzvony, Kushpit, AGRO-ORMS, Agroco, and Kischenzi. The equipment will accelerate elevators operations and increase the grain transportation capacity of these medium-sized firms to 185,130 tons annually.
Agrofirma Dzvony, a family-owned enterprise, expects the modern telehandler to optimize overall work at the elevator and amplify its transportation capacity by 150%. The company will use the telehandler to load trailers under the canopy during harvest, transport grain, and fill big bags with grain. Dzvony specializes in growing wheat, corn, soybeans, rapeseed, and sunflowers.
Another beneficiary of the USAID-provided telehandler is Kushpit, a family-owned business that anticipates improvements in grain storage facility operations with the new equipment. Two of the company’s three telehandlers are outdated, impacting overall efficiency. While telehandlers are utilized across various operations, Kushpit plans to use the new equipment to expedite transportation at the elevator. The existing telehandlers will be repurposed for land plot afforestation, grubbing, and chip overloading related to these reforestation efforts.
AGRO-ORMS, an agri firm, plans to increase its grain transshipment capacity and optimize logistics costs with the new telescopic handler. Due to the dispersed locations of its shipping points, the company currently rents an additional telehandler to supplement its own. AGRO-ORMS expects that utilizing two telehandlers will enable simultaneous shipment from two warehouses, ultimately doubling the speed of grain trailer loading. It will decrease downtime and expedite delivery to ports or borders, potentially leading to a 250% increase in exports.
Furthermore, USAID ERA provided a telehandler to Kischenzi, a diversified farm, that integrates agricultural, dairy, vegetable, and pig farming operations. The company will utilize the USAID-provided telehandler to manage grain movement within storage warehouses and facilitate loading onto vehicles for further transshipment to Ukrainian ports. With the new telehandler, Kischenzi anticipates a 50% increase in grain loading capacity, enabling it to handle up to 4,500 tons of grain daily.
Lastly, USAID ERA provided a telehandler to Agroco, a diversified agri enterprise. Founded in 2001, Agroco cultivates corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and wheat while operating a dairy farm. The new telehandler will enhance the company’s grain handling efficiency at the elevator. Previously, relying on shared equipment from their livestock operations, Agroco expects to double their daily grain loading capacity from 500 to 1,000 tons with the telehandler. This improvement will accelerate technological processes and reduce costs associated with loading rented rail wagons.
Background: Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.