April 5, 2010

Russia imports cattle to boost domestic beef production

Russia will have to import up to one million head of breeding stock during the next 10 years in order to upgrade the domestic beef herd and increase beef production in the coming years.

Over the past two years, Russian producers bought more than 150,000 head of breeding cattle from abroad, while refusing domestic livestock which is not suitable for industrial animal husbandry.

The cattle shipments to Russia totalling 50,000-100,000 head recently are mostly  Holsteins. However, during the next few years, Russia should increase cattle imports as part of the state programme to boost domestic beef production and reduce import dependence, according to analysts.

In recent years, Russia has intensified global demand for livestock, starting to buy cattle not only from Europe, but also from the US, Canada and even Australia, triggering price hikes of up to US$5,000/head.

The largest European suppliers of cattle to Russia are the Netherlands and Germany.