Poultry production in the first half of the year decreased by 2.4%

In the first half of the year, all farms produced 3.2 million tons of poultry for slaughter (hereinafter - in live weight). This is 2.4% less than a year earlier, Rosstat reported. Including in agricultural organizations, poultry production also decreased by 2.4% to 3 million tons. In general, the production of livestock and poultry in January-June decreased by 0.4% to 7.1 million tons, including in agricultural organizations - by 0 .2% to 5.9 million tons. At the same time, the production of cattle for slaughter increased by 1.5% to 1.1 million tons, pigs - by 1.2% to 2.6 million tons.

According to industry experts, the figures presented by Rosstat are quite expected. So, the general DIRECTOR of the National Union of Poultry Breeders Sergey Lakhtyukhov said that the decrease in poultry production for six months really amounted to 2.4%, but given that last year there were 29 days in February, the drop is about 2%. “If we take into account the decrease in production in January 2021 compared to January last year by 6.4% and our forecasts that production will recover month by month in May, then our expectations were fully justified,” he said. “The growth of industrial production of poultry MEAT in May against May amounted to 0.15%, and June to June - about 2%.” If this trend continues, by the end of the third quarter, year-on-year, RUSSIA could reach last year's figures, Lahtyukhov added.

Albert Davleev, President of Agrifood Strategies, said that "a rather interesting picture" is now observed in the production of poultry meat. “We see that since the end of last year, we have had a reduction in poultry plantings, there was a culling of individual flocks, both parental and commercial. There were outbreaks of low pathogenic avian influenza at some enterprises. This led to a reduction in output," Davleev recalled. “After that, the ROSSELKHOZNADZOR limited the supply of hatching eggs, which reduced the base for maintaining production at least at the level of last year.”

Later, the situation with hatching eggs began to stabilize, and the recovery of both parent and commercial broiler flocks began, the expert said. He added that, despite this, the drop was quite significant: in the first quarter of 2021, it was almost 6.5%, now reduced to 2.4%. According to Davleev, this was primarily due to an increase in the output of turkey meat, an increase by almost half in the launch of the capacities of Tambovskaya Turkey, the launch of the Ural agro-industrial complex at full capacity, the restart of the former assets of Eurodon - Indyushkin Dvor and New Duck farms." “According to the plan, this year the enterprise should produce about 45 thousand tons of products in carcass weight, this is a very significant figure. Plus, an increase in capacity by almost 50% at the Tambov Turkey and other companies,” he explained.

According to Davleev, if difficulties with highly pathogenic avian influenza can be avoided, there is every chance this year to reach at least the level of poultry meat production last year - a little more than 5-5.1 million tons in carcass weight. “So far, the existing harvest forecasts suggest that feed prices will become somewhat cheaper, although the cost of fuel and lubricants is growing and restrictions on the supply of a number of feed ingredients from Europe and other countries,” he added.

Egg production in January-June decreased by 0.8% to 22.3 billion pieces. Moreover, the largest drop - by 7.3% to 249.2 million units - was made by farmers and individual entrepreneurs. In agricultural enterprises, production decreased by 0.3%, to 18 billion units, in personal subsidiary farms - by 2.3%, to 4 billion units.

Director General of the National Union of Pig Breeders (NSS) Yuri Kovalev said that the indicated dynamics of pig production is quite expected. On the one hand, all new investment projects that have reached the final stage showed growth, as expected. On the other hand, the complex of epidemiological problems that began at the end of last year and continues now leads to the fact that companies partially reduce production, he explained. At the end of the year, the NSS predicts an increase in production by about 3%. Davleev, at the end of 2021, production is projected to increase by at least 4.5-5.5%. The main increase will occur in the second half of the year, he believes.

The Rosstat materials also state that all farms produced 15.8 million tons of MILK in the first half of the year, which is 0.3% more than in the same period last year. In agricultural organizations, production increased by 1.5% to 9.2 million tons. The dynamics of milk production, presented by Rosstat, is generally predictable, the dairy industry has been steadily growing in recent years, said Artem Belov, general director of the National Union of Milk Producers (Soyuzmoloko). According to him, now the pace is a little bit lower than last year. “This is primarily due to the high cost of milk production and unfavorable climatic conditions in a number of Russian regions,” he explained. At the end of the year, Soyuzmoloko expects an increase in milk production by 2-2.5%.