World meat industry news

Russia hopes to see further growth in broiler meat and egg production in 2023, as well as a growing supply chain independence from imported components, Vladimir Fisinin, president of the Russian Poultry Union Rosptitsesoyuz, told local news agency Veterinary and Life.

In 2022, Russia produced 5.2 million tons of broiler meat in slaughter weight, which is 5.2% more than in the previous year. Egg production rose 2.8%, or 1 billion eggs, to 45.8 billion last year, Fisinin said.

According to Fisinin, in 2022 Russia ranked 4th in the world in the production of poultry meat and 7th in the production of eggs.

On the way to independence

The key issues for the Russian poultry industry are the efficiency and safety of products. In this regard, one of the most important tasks for 2023 is the partial replacement of imported vaccines, Fisinin said, adding that work in this direction should be led by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Rosselkhoznadzor.

Russia is highly dependent on the import of veterinary vaccines. In 2022, several market players expressed concern about the huge losses that the industry could suffer if supplies were disrupted due to sanctions.

Another important task is to reduce dependence on imported livestock products, Fisinin said. Emphasizing the importance of the dynamics, Fisinin estimated that in 2022 there were some positive achievements in this area, since in 9 months of the year the supply of hatching eggs decreased by 34%, and day-old chicks - by 53% compared to the same period last year.

There are currently 60 hatcheries in Russia producing hatching eggs, he added.

Smena-9 becomes real

In the breeding segment, the Russian broiler meat industry has high hopes for the first domestic hybrid Smena-9, which scientists have been working on for several years. Fisinin said that the Smena breeding farm with the parent stock of the new cross should start work in March 2023. The Russian government has allocated 4.5 billion rubles ($70 million) to support the project, Fisinin said.

“Our goal is to bring the share of domestic crossbreeds in the production of broiler meat in Russia to 15% by 2025,” Fisinin said.

Promised export growth

In addition, according to Fisinin, Russian poultry farmers expect further growth in poultry and egg exports in 2022. In 2022, Russia exported 336 thousand (according to the statement of the Ministry of Agriculture on December 23).