We are talking about subsidies that made it possible to compensate for up to 50% of the cost of purchasing animal feed.

At the same time, earlier in the department they thought about the possibility of extending this support measure, they even considered the amount of subsidies up to 15 billion rubles.

But in the end, it was decided to abandon this idea: apparently, the funds were needed for other purposes.

Grain prices have fallen — that’s enough

 

The Ministry of Agriculture explains that the measure was generally of a one-time nature: last year, the harvest in Russia was lower than expected, so grain prices soared.

In order to maintain the profitability of dairy farming, it was decided to use a subsidy.

Now everything is fine with grain prices, according to the Ministry of Agriculture: they fell by 20% from their highs due to the fact that this time in Russia there is a good grain harvest of 150 million tons, but there are problems with exports, so the domestic market accumulated large volumes of products.

So farmers should be happy with this and not expect any additional help.

Why are livestock farmers unhappy?

 

They have several reasons to disagree with the position of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Firstly, grain prices fell by 20%, while subsidies allowed up to 50% to be returned.

Simple arithmetic: 30% milkmen are still in the red.

Secondly, the grain of the new crop will reach the markets in about a month or two, but in the meantime, we have to balance, given the high prices for the grain of the previous crop.

All this can reduce the profitability of production. It is possible that some dairy farms will prefer to reduce the number of livestock.

And it is already declining: according to the analytical center MilkNews, over the past year it has fallen by 1.3%, to 7.8 million heads.

There is no need to be surprised: the costs of producers are growing, and it’s not just about feed — both equipment and veterinary services are becoming more expensive.

Therefore, there is a high risk that the sector will lose investment — and hence the driver for further development.

One way or another, livestock farmers will now have to cope on their own.

“This year, profitability in animal husbandry is at an acceptable level,” said Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev.

Perhaps the department would be happy to help, but, apparently, there are more priority tasks, but the scope of opportunities, taking into account the deficit budget for the next year, is limited.