World meat industry news

This agricultural year (will begin in July of the current calendar year) farm bankruptcy is expected in Russia, including massive bankruptcy in some regions. As Interfax reports, Arkady Zlochevsky, President of the Russian Grain Union (RGU) and member of the ROSNG Expert Council, warned about this at a press conference in Moscow.

One of the reasons was the increase in costs for the components of agricultural production. For example, despite the reduction in prices for fuel and plant protection products, the price of seeds has doubled. “And all this will come back to cost us later,” the expert noted. In addition, due to low prices for grains, their sales become unprofitable.

Zlochevsky is also concerned about seed import quotas. The head of the union recalled that about 70 percent of quotas are distributed among companies that have never been involved in the sale of seed material. These are a kind of intermediaries from whom farmers are forced to buy these products at an inflated cost. According to him, the union has already told President Vladimir Putin about this problem. The expert explained that in general he supports import substitution of seeds, but for this it is necessary to create the necessary conditions. “This is a doable task, it will just take time,” he noted. Zlochevsky called another problem the accumulation of seeds at the border that were imported before the introduction of quotas and new rules. These shipments have not yet cleared customs and will have to be returned or destroyed.

Quotas for the import of seeds of certain agricultural crops from unfriendly countries were introduced on February 13 of this year. They amounted to 33.1 thousand tons. The list includes seeds of wheat, corn, rye, barley, potatoes, soybeans, sunflowers and sugar beets.