The International Exhibition for Animal Husbandry and Breeding - AgroFarm - is scheduled to take place in Moscow for the fifth time from 12 to 14 April 2011. With 220 exhibitors from 17 countries, the event organisers - DLG International, a subsidiary of DLG (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft / German Agricultural Society), and AREC’s IEC (Moscow) – are pleased with the excellent registration response. Leading international companies from the cattle, pig and poultry sectors will be showcasing the latest proven technology and modern genetics at the AREC site (All-Russian Exhibition Centre) in the Russian capital. With 37 exhibitors, the strongest foreign-country contingent comes from Germany. However, there has also been an increase in the number of exhibitors from France, the USA, Italy and the Netherlands.

Also larger than in previous years is the range of exhibits on offer in the traditionally strong cattle and pig sectors, but especially in the cross-species sector where visitors can expect to see an even bigger range of animal feed as well as veterinary and animal hygiene products. New this year are items from the sheep, goat and bee-keeping sectors.

The exhibition is backed by an extensive technical programme which focuses on those themes that are of particular interest on the Russian animal husbandry market today. Thus, AgroFarm 2011 is all set for a lively exchange between Russian and international experts from the livestock sector. AgroFarm 2011 has some major highlights in store, including specials such as ‘Hygiene in the cowshed’, ‘Professional Dairy Goat and Sheep Farming’ and live demonstrations ‘Hoof care’ and ‘Feed preparation with a feed mixer’, which are designed to show how technology and supplies are applied in real-life conditions. With this outstanding show, AgroFarm is on course to consolidate its position as the leading information forum in Russian animal husbandry, be it for the trends of today or the livestock issues of tomorrow.

Russia’s livestock farmers very keen to invest

In spite of last summer’s drought, Russia’s livestock farmers are very keen to invest; indeed they are increasingly willing to do so.

This has to do with the Russian government’s sustainable support for the animal husbandry sector in the form of a credit worth 1.1 billion roubles. Around three quarters of this money is earmarked for the purchase of new technology to help further increase productivity and thus the competitive capacity of Russia’s animal husbandry farmers. With state support, for example, there has been a 1.7-fold increase in poultry meat production over the last five years and a 1.4-fold rise in pork production. As part of the Russian Agricultural Ministry’s programme to stabilise animal husbandry, some 311 livestock farming enterprises have been built or modernised over the last 2 years with a housing capacity for some 28.6 thousand animals at a cost of 5 billion roubles.