Jun 21 2010
Russian Beef Industry
In late March, Wes Oja of Hall and Hall traveled to Russia to consult on the development of a Russian domestic beef industry. Below is a condensed version of his summary.
Based on the overall size of Russia, one would think that they could be self-sufficient in beef production. However, the current Russian beef cow herd is estimated at only 500,000 head while the US beef cow herd is near 95 million head. This relatively small herd size, coupled with vast unused land resources and ample labor, have the Russian government and businesspeople committed to and gearing up for significant expansion of their beef industry.
As the Russian standard of living improves, their demand for beef will grow. This has caused the government to initiate public/private arrangements that allow for beef development on a large scale. The players in this budding industry aren’t “Mom and Pop” operators with a homestead and a job in town; they are Russia’s largest meat companies, leading industrialists and businesspeople. They appear to have financing, government connections and initiative. The smallest operational plan we reviewed was 2,000 cows while the largest one encompassed owning 100,000 mother cows, feedlots and a packing plant. Generally, the plans aim at a fully integrated system focusing on high quality meat production comparable to Certified Angus Beef in America.
ST. PETERSBURG
We landed in St. Petersburg (60° north latitude – the same as the southern border of Canada’s Northwest Territories) where we visited the former Sputnik Collective Farm. During the Soviet era, Sputnik was a large hog confinement and poultry operation. Since Perestroika in the early 90’s, the hog and poultry buildings have been torn down, abandoned or converted to cattle shelters and industrial cold storage. The owners are quite progressive – currently running about 400 registered Angus cows and selling bulls to other smaller northern Russian ag operations. With Russian-born, US educated and certified technicians, the operation utilizes embryo transplant and artificial insemination extensively. Livestock industry expansion in this area of Russia is considered limited.
VORONEZH
We spent most of our time in the Voronezh region in southwest Russia (50° north – the same as Calgary and Winnipeg). This area of eastern Europe is well-known for its extremely rich, black topsoil and productive farmland. There are strong similarities to the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota. Other lands in the area include gently breaking ravines that offer a mix of pine and hardwood forests and vast hillsides of native range. Annual precipitation is near 20 inches. Farm equipment and practices in this area are quite similar to North America. Crops include winter and spring wheat, barley, oats, milo, millet, corn, sunflowers and canola. From an ag production standpoint, there is limited infrastructure of any kind, even though this is one of the most productive agricultural areas in Russia. Any plans to develop a beef industry in Russia will require building complete agricultural improvements similar to what we would have in the northern Rockies.
SUMMARY
The Russians are committed to developing their beef industry based primarily on US models and genetics. There is a strong desire to better utilize their tremendous ag resources and labor pool. One can sense a bit of frontier spirit, not unlike what Americans probably felt several generations ago when they were leaving St. Louis for points west. Now as then, there are virtually no fences and limited understanding of what lies ahead – but a desire and willingness to venture onward.
