Lamb prices skyrocket. What's happening to Russia's flocks

From 600 to 900

The rise in prices for lamb is observed all over the country. According to Rosstat, since the beginning of the year the price of lamb has increased by almost 17%, and only for the period from April 23 to May 2 the price increase was 4.9% per week. For example, currently the cost of a kilogram of lamb, for example, in the markets of Astrakhan is from 600 to 900 rubles, the price depends on the part of the carcass and age (lamb is more expensive). Sellers explain the high cost of MEAT by increased demand, which, in turn, is due to the fact that farmers have reduced the amount of meat supplied to resellers. 

"Previously, farmers sold little outside the region. Basically, mutton was bought by sellers from Moscow and St. Petersburg. But now the meat is sent to other countries - Azerbaijan and Iran. There is almost nothing left for local sellers," the sellers explain.

Just a couple of years ago, the price of lamb started at 350 rubles.

Low demand is to blame

The HEAD of the National Meat Association, Sergey Yushin, commented on the situation. According to him, lamb in RUSSIA is a niche product: out of the total meat consumption of 80 kg per person per year, lamb accounts for only 1.5 kg. The expert believes that lamb production in the Russian Federation has been stagnating for many years due to the lack of great demand. In addition, the rise in prices is explained by the whitening of this market - many producers come out of the shadows, begin to pay taxes, comply with biosecurity requirements , animal welfare rules, etc. And this also costs money. Also, our lamb is of high quality and can withstand competition in foreign markets - it is bought even by those countries that produce lamb in large quantities themselves. Beef is also not cheap. But it is considered elite meat all over the world. The cost of its production is very high. "Nobody in the world eats beef every day," Yushin notes. At the same time, in Russia, beef consumption is 14 kg per person per year, while the world average is 8.7 kg per person.

The price will go for a thousand

Kharon Amerkhanov, president of the National Union of Sheep Breeders, made an even more disappointing forecast in the Parliamentary Newspaper, believing that by the end of summer, prices for mutton will rise even more: "I will be reserved in my forecasts, but, in my opinion, the main wave of price increases should come somewhere by the end of summer - beginning of autumn," the expert emphasized. "This is due to the fact that at this time the so-called weaning of lambs begins - they are weaned from their mothers and put to fattening, which requires additional investment. Therefore, most likely, by the end of the year the average cost of mutton will rise. In some regions, unfortunately, it may well go over a thousand."

According to farmers, sometimes entire flocks are sold  

Whole flocks

Our mobile correspondent Rinat Mukhtarov also notes the record price of lamb. "I don't remember such prices before - 750 rubles per kilogram of the "back". The "front" of lamb costs from 650 to 700 rubles/kg. And this is at wholesales," he says.

An Astrakhan farmer who deals with lamb told us anonymously that even now, lamb costs from 680 rubles in purchases from the population, and an adult ram from 600 rubles. According to him, last year, the wholesale price of lamb rose sharply to 500 rubles per kg. And, according to him, the upward trend will continue, since there is a shortage of lamb due to the demand for our meat in Iran and Azerbaijan, and let's not forget that Moscow eats lamb well . According to him, the situation is aggravated by the fact that, traditionally, in the summer, part of the flock is slaughtered for sale, and part is left or resold for fattening, including in neighboring regions, but due to high prices, farmers sell that part of the flock that is usually left for fattening, i.e. "entire flocks are raked out." 

An unexpected turn

In the Parliamentary newspaper, Oleg Nilov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues, proposed an alternative to combating resellers and rising food prices: buy lamb on popular classifieds sites.

KaspiyInfo correspondents decided to check this assumption and looked at the prices on one of the recommended sites. Indeed, in Astrakhan on the classifieds site the price for lamb was slightly lower - from 600 to 750 rubles per kilogram. However, you can't buy a kilogram of meat, you can only buy half a carcass or a whole ram.