The Russians are coming for more beef

RENFREW — The Russians have come and gone but they’ll be back again. A group of 30 to 40 Russians, including farm managers and buyers, toured eastern Ontario last month seeking better dairy genetics but mostly beef genetics to improve the Russian herds.

Renfrew County’s Bob Dick, one of the host farmers on the tour, says some Russian farms are big, often with 3,000 to 5,000 head, but don’t have the genetics to efficiently convert feed into gain, revealing a new marketing opportunity for local breeders. Many of the Russian slaughter animals are four-to-five-years old, Dick said. The Russian group is seeking a training package along with cattle.

Dick, who operates the largest beef test station in Ontario and winters more than 1,000 beef animals, says the Russian visit is testimony to the quality of Canadian beef cattle. Dick feeds mostly a forage ration, haylage and corn silage, with some grain.

The Russian group also visited Cornerview Farms, a dairy farm owned by the Schoutens at Richmond.

The next day they visited the Federal Department of Agriculture, which organized the visit, where they saw presentations on Canadian cattle operations. Wilson Rae, of Champlain Red Angus, spoke on grazing beef animals.

The recent visit follows two huge sales to Russian buyers since May by Alberta-based Alta Genetics International. The sales included mostly western cattle but also hundreds of beef and dairy cattle from Ontario farms.

The first sale saw 1,000 beef and 1,000 dairy cattle shipped from a port east of Montreal. In late October, 2,217 cattle were shipped. Alta Genetics also sold 1,500 short bred heifers to buyers in Kazakhstan.