Expectations exceeded – visitor figures up – livestock producers seek oppor-tunities to expand

Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 16th February 2015 - With more than 12,000 visitors, the AgroFarm exhibition in Moscow on February 3 – 5 2015, reached its best attendance figures yet, with Russian farmers travelling from as many as 70 different regions to attend this leading agricultural event that has been held annually since 2007. Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich attended a conference at the show and emphasized the importance of state support of agriculture.

AgroFarm provides practical solutions for the Russian livestock industry with 360 exhibitors from 29 countries covering primarily, dairy, cattle, pig and poultry sectors spread over 16,000 sqm of indoor space. An area was also dedicated to goat and rabbit production. 

The show also included a unique technical programme that provided visitors with 55 forums, confer-ences and seminars events on a range of specialized topics such as biotechnology.

There was a special emphasis on biosecurity, which is multi-faceted in the livestock sector and put-ting in place strict management protocols extending across each stage of production, regardless of animal species. Advice on the following was highlighted:

• Hygiene and cleaning
• Disinfection
• Segregation
• Monitoring and control

Specialist livestock units require modern and professional solutions to ensure the competitiveness of their businesses. The technical programme also provided in-depth information on specialised topics in the area of breeding, health, feeding, husbandry and management.

The annual conference of the National Union of Milk Producers (Soyuzmoloko) was held during the event and was attended some 600 people. It was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who emphasized the importance of state support of agriculture. He pointed to a new promotion measure involving a refund of part of the investment costs for the development of animal production and to be adopted by the end of February.

Another highlight at the show this year was the Business Forum, entitled “Livestock production and processing: incentives for growth and modernization”. As a result of the import substitution new op-portunities for livestock production have arisen. Against this background, financing, credit and in-vestment issues were discussed.

At the international poultry conference new market opportunities for the Russian poultry sector were explored. According to current projections, Russia will reach complete self-sufficiency in poultry meat by end of 2015. This could threaten a domestic oversupply in the event that the embargo should be lifted, so increasing the competitive ability of the Russian producers is becoming exceedingly im-portant.

Pig farmers also made extensive use of AgroFarm exhibition this year, participating in a range of talks, on the prospects of the Russian pig production, access to feed under current import re-strictions and to build the domestic pig breeding sector.

AgroFarm also hosted the annual meeting of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. A particular highlight was a workshop entitled “private farm business model for beef production – strengths and weaknesses” which attracted much attention amongst some 150 farming experts.

“We are extremely pleased that AgroFarm has achieved a record in terms of the number of visitors, with attendance figures growing by 20 percent, and we believe this reflects the fact that Russian pro-ducers and investors are intent on investing in animal farming business despite a difficult economic situation,” says Dr. Olga Hunger, project manager, AgroFarm. 

“With this exceptional turnout, AgroFarm has once again reaffirmed its status as the key business event for professionals of livestock and poultry in Russia, she added.
Preliminary results of an independent visitor and exhibitor survey conducted immediately after the show, indicated high exhibitor satisfaction levels with the majority delighted by the quality of visitors and a generally positive mood. This reflects the high demand for information of Russian livestock professionals particularly in the current political and economic conditions. 

As a result of the embargo on imports from the West imposed by Russia, Russian livestock farmers are looking to expand production. This is confirmed by the preliminary results survey which shows 61 percent of farmers are planning to invest in the next two years.

Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, AgroFarm takes place in hall 75 of the VDNH exhibition centre (formerly All-Russian Exhibition Centre) and is organised by DLG Inter-national GmbH (Frankfurt am Main), a subsidiary of the DLG, and OAO (VDNH).

The next AgroFarm will take place 2 – 4 February 2016 at VDNH exhibition centre, Moscow, Russia.

The DLG’s expertise in agriculture helps ensure that AgroFarm delivers key, industry-sensitive infor-mation in the most visitor-friendly way.