Russia has 8.5 million cattle and half of them are produced in dairy enterprises and the rest in individual plots. Total production of milk is around 30 million tonnes per year. According to official statistics, 50% of whole milk volume is used for dairy processing.
The remaining 50% is consumed by farmers and villages and isn’t used for processing.
According to Barinova, this latter statistic is in fact less, as urbanisation is driving people from villages to cities.
“The milk deficit in Russia is estimated to be at 8 million tonnes. Russia has not managed to increase production, despite the measures undertaken: Subsidies of 3 Roubles per 1 liter of raw milk, subsidies for capital investment in farm construction, subsidies on credit to farmers.
“Because of this deficit, exports of dairy ingredients from Ireland to Russia have increased in by 318% in 2016 compared to 2015, casein – at 281%, infant food at 560%,” she says.
As a result of the deficit and the food embargo, milk prices continue to increase, especially in the Ural and Siberian regions, Barinova highlighted.
“Demand for milk is high,” she says and added that iIn the last few years, foreign companies have heavily invested in dairy farming in Russia.
Among the biggest projects are Eco Niva, a 99% German-owned company, Eco Land GmbH, with a few farms and a total number of 3600 cows, Molvest with 1200 cows and Domanta (Rusmoloko) with 1200 cows.
According to Barinova, the opportunity for Irish companies is in selling expertise and technology for dairy farming and processing, as well as selling dairy cattle for breeding purposes.
“Due to the lack of expertise and technology, foreign investment is in required in the form of joint ventures; the success of a joint venture in Irish pig breeding as a key example,” she says.
Source: Independent
Link: http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/dairy/could-irish-dairy-breeding-stock-soon-be-on-the-way-to-russia-35156248.html