To the Urals for milk!

This year the “Give way to milk” motor rally gathered “at the steering wheel” more than 150 likeminded people – heads of livestock farms, processors, equipment suppliers and journalists – all of whom care about the fate of the Russian dairy industry.

This time the rally participants went to the Urals in their quest to prove that we can get quality milk in Russia. They visited the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Kurgan and Chelyabinsk oblasts on a trip of around 1,700 km in total. They visited nine dairy enterprises and discussed vital issues with officials. The Kurgan branch of AgroCentreZakharovo supported the dairy topic and joined the crew from JCB, a leader in telehandler manufacturing.

During the first two days, the rally participants drove through the Sverdlovsk and Tyumen oblasts, where they stopped at leading dairy enterprises. The rally’s midpoint was in the Kurgan oblast. Sergey Pugin, Director of the Oblast Department of Agriculture, greeted the guests and remarked that development of dairy farming is a priority for the region’s agriculture. The main task of the day is to maintain the livestock population. This year 200 million rubles of dedicated state support are envisaged for implementation of investment projects in the sphere of dairy production. The focus will be on reimbursement of expenses for buying livestock, as this will make it possible to increase the number of milch cows.

“Since establishment of the oblast, the region’s task has been to provide the Urals with food,” Sergey Pugin says. “And we always managed it successfully. One of the leading processing enterprises of the federal district works in the oblast producing a whole range of dairy products.”

After the conference, the rally participants went to the Moloko Zauralya enterprise, which processes over 20 tonnes of milk and produces about 77 items of preservative-free milk products.