March 26, 2008

Russian livestock numbers see slight increase

Russian livestock numbers rose slightly from year-ago levels, with pig numbers rising while cattle numbers remained the same, according to the state statistics service.

The total number of cattle in Russia on March 1 was 21.6 million, the same as on March 1, 2007,

However, the number of cows fell 0.4 percent to 9.3 million.

The number of pigs increased 3 percent to 16.5 million.

The proportion of cattle kept by the population on small private holdings increased to 46 percent from 45.4 percent a year ago, pigs increased to 41 percent from 40.8 percent. The remaining 50-60 percent of Russian cows and pigs are on large-scale farms.