MONTREAL — A ship filled with 2,217 Canadian purebred cattle is on its way to Russia.

The shipment is the largest of its kind since the BSE crisis closed borders to Canadian cattle in 2003. It’s also the third shipment of more than 1,000 livestock that headed overseas this year.

The cattle left Becancour Port, between Montreal and Quebec City, on Oct. 23, destined for a port city in south Russia.The $4 million in purebred sales includes five Russian buyers.

The latest shipment inlcuded 1,000 bred Angus heifers, 50 Angus bulls, 800 Holstein heifers, 17 Holstein bulls, 340 bred Hereford heifers and 10 Hereford bulls.

The cattle were sourced from six Canadian provinces and from more than 400 farms, including some from eastern Ontario and east central Ontario.

All three shipments were organized by Alta Exports International, of Alberta, said spokesman Gary Smith, speaking to Farmers Forum from horseback, as he rounded up cattle on the foothills of the Rockies.

Eastern Ontario farmers, such as Lindsay’s Ed McMurrow and Renfrew’s Brian Leach, have helped in organizing cattle to get the deal done.

The first shipment of 2,000 head sailed to Russia in late-May. That shipment included 1,000 purbred Holsteins heifers, including 700 from Ontario. There were also 1,000 purebred Black Angus cows, including 300 from Ontario.

The second largest sale, of 1,500 open and short-bred heifers, was flown on seven 747 jets, and ended up in Kazakhstan, part of the former Soviet Union. All farmers, including some from eastern Ontario, were paid in full prior to shipment.

Alta Exports has been working since 2004 on deals with Canadian agencies, such as the Canadian Beef Breed Council and the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association, to export embryos, semen and cattle to Russia.