April 25, 2014

Russia's livestock production up 4.5% in Q1 2014

For the first quarter of the current year, production of livestock and poultry for slaughter in Russia was 2.8 million tonnes – 4.5% up on last year.

Pig production for slaughter rose by 11.2% for pigs, sheep and goats 0.5%, and poultry 3.4%. However, the corresponding figures for cattle fell by 2%.

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture said that, according to Rosstat, milk production on all types of farms fell by 1.3% to 6.1 million tonnes in the first quarter.

Milk yield per cow in agricultural enterprises increased by 64 kilogrammes, or 5.3%, to 1,264 kilogrammes.

Egg production decreased slightly to an estimated 9.6 million on all types of farms in the quarter, or 2.7% less than last year.

Rosstat reported that the average selling price for 10 eggs in the country at the start of the year was RUB32.96 (US$0.91).

According to Vladimir Labinov, the Head of the Ministry's Livestock Department, there were 20.2 million head of cattle on all types of farms at the beginning of April, or 2.3% less than at the same period last year. This figure includes 8.7 million cows, which represents a decrease of 2.5%.

The number of pigs remained at the same level as the first quarter of last year, at 19.9 million head.

The number of sheep and goats in agricultural enterprises increased by 0.7% to 25.1 million head, while the number of poultry increased by 2.7% to 417.1 million.