October 24, 2007

Canada's Alta Exports International ships biggest cattle exports to Russia

Canadian exporter Alta Exports International Ltd. has shipped 2,217 Canadian purebred cattle to customers in Russia which also includes 1,000 bred Angus heifers, 50 Angus bulls, 800 Holstein heifers, 17 Holstein bulls, 340 bred Hereford heifers and ten Hereford bulls.

The company is a mutual exporter-member of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) and the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association (CLGA). 

The cattle came from six Canadian provinces from more than 400 farms with the assistance of Walker Dairy Sales Inc., Weavercroft International Ltd., Trudeau International Livestock Sales Ltd., and Bob Prestage of Wicklow Angus Exporting; the combined sale nets close to $4 million (CDN) for the purebred producers involved. Export Development Canada (EDC) is providing their financial services support to the shipment.

The shipment is the Canada's biggest breeding cattle exports since the BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy crisis of 2003; the cattle are destined for five buyers in three regions of Russia. Alta Exports International Ltd. has successfully exported 5,700 head of breeding stock in 2007 to Russia and Kazakhstan (CIS). 

Alta Exports International Ltd. (AEI) markets livestock, embryos, genetic technologies and semen in specific export markets and also active in technology transfer, including large embryo projects, of beef and dairy production in Russia and China.

Since 2004, AEI Principals Gary Smith and Kate Kolstad have been involved in several collaborative missions with representatives from Canadian federal and provincial agriculture agencies, industry and breed associations in order to develop markets and clear the way to export embryos, semen, and cattle to Russia.

Upon the cattle's arrival in Russia, AEI will support Russian buyers through training, including livestock management and nutrition.  This programme will be funded in part under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Canadian Agri-Food International (CAFI) program and through the Long Term International Strategy (LTIS) developed and implemented yearly by Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) on behalf of Canada¡¯s purebred beef cattle producers. Previous sales of beef cattle embryos by AEI were supported in this manner. Dairy management training will also be provided and this is partially funded through CLGA, which develops a similar LTIS to CBBC on behalf of the Canadian purebred dairy industry.