"The All-Russian auction of breeding animals is not an idea, but a vital necessity!" - Sergey Anuchin

Sergey, how did you come up with the idea to hold the first All-Russian auction of breeding animals?

— This is not even an idea, but a vital necessity! Our enterprise is focused on further development in the field of livestock breeding and obtaining the best animals. We can no longer develop territorially or in terms of the number of heads in Chuvashia — the availability of land for growing feed is limited.

Today our herd numbers over 6,000 heads, of which 3,000 are dairy. In order to move forward and develop, we need to improve the quality of the herd, get the best heifers and the best bulls. At the same time, they need to be sold. This must make economic sense.

And today, there is no market as such in RUSSIA. In advertisements, we see that breeding animals are sold here as for meat: "380 rubles per kg." This is a completely wrong approach! This should not be, because each HEAD is individual!

it is necessary for a market for breeding animals to develop in Russia. With the help of the auction, we decided to try to feel how ready our market is today to purchase animals not in kilograms, but according to their breeding qualities.

How ready is the market for this?

— We see that the market is maturing. We have a genomic assessment that gives an understanding of the animal’s level, its prospects and all the advantages that are economically beneficial for the farm. Therefore, we decided to hold such an all-Russian electronic auction, which will be held offline on our site, as well as online .

Are online and offline modes identical in functionality, or will there be differences?

— Offline, we will only sell our own animals. Bringing animals from other enterprises is a serious burden on the owners, plus the safety issue, which is extremely relevant today. You need to go through quarantine to make sure that the herd is not sick, and to avoid transporting contagious diseases. Quarantine is also required to remove animals from our site. This format is becoming a thing of the past. In our opinion, the future belongs to electronic auctions, which will be conducted according to a certain algorithm.

Those who come to the auction in person will sit in the stands, watch and place bets on both the animals bred on our site and on the animals presented from other regions, where the animals will be exhibited online. All this will be displayed on a large screen, the auctioneer and the boniter will be nearby, accepting bets and determining who has made the best offer. Those who will be online will also be able to place bets on animals from other regions, which will be exhibited by farms, for example, from the Kemerovo region. All online participants will provide us with photographs and videos of the broods in advance, made according to a certain algorithm, as well as the necessary documentary evidence for each animal.

How do you prepare the site for an auction?

— We specially equipped the site, and we did it in advance, realizing that we would be engaged in breeding livestock, to show our animals in the best possible way. We made a stand, an arena next to the farm. We have a special canopy to keep animals there during such events. In general, we are decorating a beautiful area for this auction. We want to decorate it properly and conduct it in such a way that we will not be ashamed of the animal auction that will be held in Russia.

What animal documents are required to participate in the auction?

— The main documents that we will review and present to potential buyers are the genomic assessment and the breeding card, which is currently available for each breeding animal in the Seleks program. If a batch of animals, heifers or heifers is sold (and this is also allowed with us), the Seleks database will contain a set of parameters that are required to characterize this batch.
Plus, there will be our professional appraiser — a boniter, who will make an assessment and profile of each batch being sold. Based on the assessment, the buyer should understand what the purchase will give to his farm compared to the average level. For example, it will improve the condition of the udder or give an increase in MILK yield, say, by 500 liters. With the help of the profile of the batch being sold, maximum information on each animal, the buyer will be able to make sure that he is not buying a pig in a poke, but something really valuable.

During the auction, additional information will be provided, which is sometimes completely absent on the market today. Our task is to provide more information from professionals so that both the buyer and the seller get what they want.

It is very valuable that such comprehensive information about the animal will be provided. Which regions have already confirmed participation?

— Firstly, it is Chuvashia itself. In addition to our farm, there are three more breeding farms that will definitely participate. There are already confirmed applications from other regions. Also, individual specimens with high evaluation indices from the Sverdlovsk region will be sold. And there is also a breeding station that wants to sell its bulls.

Do you still accept participants from other regions?

— We are ready to conduct a dialogue with farmers who want to buy bulls for breeding. We are ready to conduct a dialogue with any organization anywhere in Russia regarding participation in the auction. The more participants, the more attractive the auction is for sellers and buyers.

The scale of your project requires very serious preparation. Tell us how you prepare for this auction?

— We have created an initiative group that is organizing the auction. In addition, we have decided to hold a conference on livestock breeding the day before the auction, which will be attended by famous speakers who understand breeding work and all the nuances. This will allow us to develop recommendations on how the industry can develop further.

Participation in the conference has already been confirmed by Artem Belov (Soyuzmoloko), Olga Abramova ( Government of Udmurtia), Nikita Gordeev (Association of Holstein Cattle Producers ), Pavel Nosalenko (Krasnodarskoye Training Farm), Dmitry Nikulin (MK Genetika), Innopraktika, the Ural Livestock Breeders Union and others.

How will the conference be organized?

— There will be three blocks. The first block is “Breeding Livestock. Present. Future.” In this part, a number of agricultural producers will speak and share their vision.

The second block will be devoted to everything related to genomic evaluation and breeding value indices. Here we will discuss how we can move forward in animal evaluation. After all, in order to compare, we need a database for evaluation, and we don’t have one yet, except for the Net Merit index in the CDCB system. We are using it for now and sticking to it as the main one. But in the future, we definitely need to change the emphasis and take into account the data and priorities of Russian conditions.

And the third block will be devoted to the role of unions and associations in animal husbandry.

When preparing an auction, do you rely on the global experience of such auctions or do you go your own way?

— Firstly, Russia already has experience of such auctions at the local level. Regional auctions were held in the Leningrad, Moscow, and Samara regions. But these were exclusively offline events. In addition, these were rather one-time events, staged.

And secondly, in today's situation, the global experience of such auctions is not quite a suitable option for Russia. Abroad, auctions are held through sites where animals are brought. We are looking a little further from the position of digitalization. We are planning to create an online platform where all information about the animals will be available a couple of weeks before the auction. Then the participants will be able to prepare and choose the lots they are interested in, and then bargain for the lot they like at the auction.

Where will this information be available?

— All this information will be available on the website.

Will there also be an online auction on this site?

- Yes, the online auction will be conducted from this site.

Is there any support from the authorities?

— We are supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of Chuvashia. And we are holding the event at our own expense.

We wish you good luck in this important project and will follow your progress. In conclusion, we would like to know a little more about your farm.

— We are located in Chuvashia, 20 km from the city of Cheboksary. "CheboMilk" is a modern dairy complex for 3 thousand heads of milking herd, the construction of which we completed last year. It was built in two stages. First, there was Parallel 2x24 for 1200 heads, then Karusel with 72 places for another 1800 heads. A distinctive feature of our complex is the implementation of a number of energy-efficient projects for the use of secondary energy. Much of the equipment installed on the farm was manufactured at our machine-building production facility.

Our plant for the production of equipment for livestock farms has mastered many things that were previously manufactured only abroad. Now we do it ourselves: manure separators, brushes, bioreactors for manure disinfection, automatic hoof washing baths, automatic drivers, calf boxes, insemination machines, vertical and horizontal fans, etc.

We also have an accredited embryo center - a very good breeding resource in work, which also distinguishes our farm. This is not a show, we really deal with embryos: we wash, freeze, transplant. And we already provide such services in other farms. This makes it possible to wash embryos from the most highly productive heifers and transplant them into recipients (low-productivity animals), thereby obtaining a larger number of individuals with high genetic value. We work using Invivo technology and Invitro technology. By the way, at the auction we will try to put out even such a product as embryos with a transplant service.

In Russia, there are only 13 officially registered farms that deal with embryos. Of these, three or four are active and actually work. The rest simply have a status and a certificate on the wall. In the future, this technology should be as accessible as artificial insemination.

Thank you for the detailed conversation. We wish you success in your breeding work and in holding the auction!