Collective and state farms, collective and joint farms, it seems, are already a relic of the distant past. Therefore, few of us remember what kind of position this is, the chairman of the collective farm, which gives rights and ascribes responsibilities. Nevertheless, it continues to exist today! She is occupied not only by men, but also by women, moreover, in some cases very young, we will also talk about them in the article.
About Association
A collective farm is an acronym for the phrase collective farm. Accordingly, this was the name of the enterprise created for collective farming.
Initially, the following associations were called collective farms:
- Agricultural artels.
- Partnerships for joint processing of land plots.
- Agricultural communes.
By the "sunset" of the USSR, there was only one form left - agricultural cooperatives. Over time, this became synonymous with collective farms.
Agricultural cooperatives
At their core, agricultural cooperatives are production cooperatives. Upon their entry, participants donated their personal property free of charge. It became the public domain of a legal entity - a collective farm.
The transferred property was considered both the means of production (livestock, implements, agricultural machinery, certain buildings, plantings and seeds) and land plots. They were knocked out of personal possession, united and transferred to collective farms for eternal gratuitous use, while being already state property.
In the personal possession of the peasants remained:
- House.
- A small personal plot (with an area of not more than 0.5 hectares).
- One cow.
- Up to a dozen small farm animals and birds.
Each member of the agricultural cooperative is its co-owner. Moreover, the result of the association’s activities was divided only depending on the labor contribution. The size of the land plot, input share, and the amount of other property transferred to the association were not taken into account.
The work performed was not evaluated in money, but in the so-called workdays. They were summed up, forming a share of finance, which was due to the employee in the further redistribution of products and cash costs at the end of the agricultural cycle.
But already in 1966, the form of settlement in workdays and the payment in kind were replaced on Soviet collective farms with monetary compensation. The associations themselves existed until 1992. After that, they were reorganized into other forms of ownership. Therefore, it is important to understand that modern collective farms are not the former Soviet ones.
First associations
Collective farms began to appear everywhere in Soviet Russia since 1918. In addition to them, were formed in state farms. What's the Difference? The latter were created on the basis of specialized farms (for example, horse farms). The state was the owner of land and production on state farms. Their employees were paid in cash in accordance with strict standards. They were in fact wage workers. And not co-owners, as on collective farms.
The first collective farm chairmen also headed associations:
- TSOZ (Partnership for joint processing of land). Only land use and labor were common here. Livestock, equipment, buildings remained in the personal possession of the peasants. Incomes were distributed not only by labor, but also by property investment, by the size of the share given upon joining the collective farm.
- Agricultural artel. As we determined above, everything was common here - land, labor, agricultural property. Revenues were distributed only according to labor participation.
- Agricultural commune. She acted as a kind of unitary enterprise, where almost everything was common - from land to small equipment and livestock. The distribution of resources was carried out "by eaters" in the family. There was no personal subsidiary farm. The communes arranged on the former monastery and landowner lands.
Who is it?
Let's start with the definition. The collective farm chairman is the elected head of the collective farm. At the same time, he is also the chairman of the board of the artel, judging by Soviet law.
The collective farm chairman is elected at a general meeting of collective farmers for two years. His most important responsibilities are: daily management of the work of the artel and brigades, as well as systematic monitoring of the implementation of board decisions. All this is dictated by Art. 22 of the Charter of the agricultural artel.
To elect a person as the chairman of a collective farm, it is necessary that at least 2/3 of the total number of members of the artel be present at the general meeting.
Immediate responsibilities
The former collective farm chairmen, of course, had no influence on the decisions of the current leader. Upon assuming office, the chairman had a number of strict obligations to members of the artel:
- Collect the board at least twice a month to discuss the current state of affairs, as well as make responsible decisions.
- Carry out daily management of collective farm operations: give orders to team leaders, accept work done from them, manage collective farm settlement accounts in banking organizations, and endorse various expenditure documents.
- The chairman of the collective farm (photos of the leaders of collective farms are presented in the article) is responsible for the following: all the work of the collective farm as a whole, strict adherence to the Charter of agricultural cooperatives, fulfillment of the obligations of the association to the state, preservation of public property (the one that belongs to the collective farm), and proper use of land.
Manager's profile
The chairman is the legal representative of the joint agricultural cooperative in front of the state and its institutions. For his work, it is strictly necessary to observe the democratic foundations of collective farm management.
The main speech of the chairman of the collective farm is a report to the board, as well as to the general meeting of the agricultural cooperative. And an important point. The general meeting of collective farmers is entitled to resign and relieve the chairman, who, in the opinion of the majority, cannot cope with his duties.
When a citizen is elected chairman, he is included in the number of members of the collective farm. At the same time, his rights to trade union membership and privileges are retained, which are established for agricultural specialists.
Specialist Requirements
What is he, the best chairman of a collective farm? First of all, an experienced, knowledgeable leader. A selection of such chairmen is an important matter both during the USSR and in the present day. This is especially true for those collective farms, which in fact are large mechanized farms with many branches of activity.
The head of a collective farm is a specialist with a secondary or higher education in the field of agriculture. He is a practitioner. That is, has sufficient experience in organizational, leadership activities.
Training and continuing education
There was a practice of advanced training for collective farm chairmen in the republics, regions, and territories of the Soviet state. It was carried out on the basis of three-year agricultural schools and one-year courses for the training and retraining of leaders in this industry.
During the time that was spent on training, a state scholarship was paid to the specialist. In addition, according to the decision of the collective farmers, from 20 to 35 workdays per month could be counted. A cash surcharge of 200 rubles per month was also charged for the entire course.
Women in office
In our century of equality, it is not uncommon to meet women chairmen of collective farms. Meet some great personalities.
- Natalya Oleneva, chairman of the Vetluga collective farm, Sharya district, Kostroma region. At the time of her election, in 2011, the girl was only 22 years old. She took up the position almost immediately after graduating from the Agricultural Academy.
- Lydia Dushka, chairman of the Rodina collective farm in the village of Dmitrievsky in the Krasnogvardeisky district of Stavropol. This collective farm is allocated wages (34.5 thousand rubles for 2015), which is the highest in the region. In addition, it is this farm - one of the best livestock in Russia.
Game "Gardener"
It is not necessary to assume that collective farms are a long forgotten past. Today they are quite popular in virtual life. An example of this is the popular online game Gardener. Within its framework, it is possible to create a collective farm, which is considered here as a voluntary association of farmers. It is able to create a closed team with its posts, general chat, forum, mutual assistance system.
Any player can create a collective farm by paying an amount in the symbolic currency of the game - 1000 rubies. In this case, the creator automatically becomes the chairman of the association.
Inside the collective farm there are many posts - agronomists and machine operators, collective farmers and commodity experts, wardens and deputy representatives. The higher the position, the, respectively, the higher the player in the collective farm system. Consider the most important positions here:
- Chairman It has the right to accept new players in its association, to exclude them. Moderates closed forms and chats, changes their names, uses the "secret" functions of the game, accessible only to him. He is also responsible for the selection of leadership on the collective farm, topics on the forum. More than others, he is responsible for his character - when he is hacked, removed, the collective farm remains without leadership.
- Vice-chairman. Has the right to accept new players, to promote and demote them of their choice. It may also have other functions that the chairman provides him.
- Agronomist. It accepts people to the collective farm, and is also the moderator of a closed association forum. It can also perform other functions that the chairman delegates to him.
We met with the position of chairman of a collective farm. It remains relevant today - not only in the real, but also in the virtual world.