Moscow Girls know their onions

Walterp

Member
Location
Pembrokeshire
US and EU sanctions on Russia (after re-claiming the Crimea) have been a major success - for Russia. Impelled to protect and develop Russian agriculture, government support and protectionist measures has goosed output by 30% in 2014/2016.

Russia developed an import-substitution programme: cheap loans, tax incentives, and grants for agricultural equipment.

In 2016, Russia was the world's largest exporter of grain.

For farmers, it's the last new frontier. Russians, understandably, don't aspire to be peasants even after perestroika reforms. Huge farming outfits (average size c. 15,000 acres) remain, but their livestock enterprises collapsed - cutting demand for grain and slashing the area planted - in an interesting example of what can happen, when the State withdraws its underwriting of agriculture.

'Dog-and-stick' everywhere, with no fertiliser, few inputs, no new machinery and no capital investment, but on a magnificent scale - Russia has 300 million acres of arable land. It is the world’s third-largest area behind only India and the US.

Now Mr Putin seeks not only to make Russia self-sufficient by 2020 (pre-sanctions, it imported over 40% of its food) but also, in an interesting slant on the direction of travel of US production practices, suggests Russia can become the world’s largest supplier of “healthy, ecologically clean, high-quality food”.

It appears to be working. I wonder if he'll make it?
 
Having been in Eastern Europe a bit, the scale of the place is astounding. What surprised me equally as much was just how much land was left doing nothing. I'm talking hundreds of hectares you would drive by and it was doing nothing but growing overgrown weeds and brush etc. In some places, like the Czech republic, the government have helped get the whole thing moving, I am not certain how but a lot of stuff was in cultivation and the infrastructure was starting to be built or upgraded. But it is a mammoth task that will take decades from what I could see.

In terms of potential, if you used Western technology (capital?) and methods, you would equal anything North America can do, and be limited only by rainfall to be honest.

As I understand it, the main barriers were a lack of capital and a lack of organisation at governmental level downwards.
 

uztrac

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
fakenham-norfolk
This is a dangerous statement, but I'm a putin fan.
Certainly looks feasible? And I'd never underestimate what the Russians can do.
You are correct in your assumption/s concerning Mother Russia. Since the sanctions agribusiness in Russia has developed leaps and bounds,self sufficiency will be there by 2020 weather permitting. Our family are regular visitors to Russia 5/6 times a year on business and notice the positive changes on every visit.
I wish we had a leader here who cared for his/her own country as President Putin does for his own country. Before other forum members get to excited please note that I lived in the FSU for 15 years ,so do know a little bit on the subject of Russian agriculture.
 
US and EU sanctions on Russia (after re-claiming the Crimea) have been a major success - for Russia. Impelled to protect and develop Russian agriculture, government support and protectionist measures has goosed output by 30% in 2014/2016.

Russia developed an import-substitution programme: cheap loans, tax incentives, and grants for agricultural equipment.

In 2016, Russia was the world's largest exporter of grain.

For farmers, it's the last new frontier. Russians, understandably, don't aspire to be peasants even after perestroika reforms. Huge farming outfits (average size c. 15,000 acres) remain, but their livestock enterprises collapsed - cutting demand for grain and slashing the area planted - in an interesting example of what can happen, when the State withdraws its underwriting of agriculture.

'Dog-and-stick' everywhere, with no fertiliser, few inputs, no new machinery and no capital investment, but on a magnificent scale - Russia has 300 million acres of arable land. It is the world’s third-largest area behind only India and the US.

Now Mr Putin seeks not only to make Russia self-sufficient by 2020 (pre-sanctions, it imported over 40% of its food) but also, in an interesting slant on the direction of travel of US production practices, suggests Russia can become the world’s largest supplier of “healthy, ecologically clean, high-quality food”.

It appears to be working. I wonder if he'll make it?
Another error by you Walter, but you mean the CIS not Russia, I many years ago went to the USSR, and contary to the perception from the the West and the media , came to the conclussion that it was a country not to be underestimated. Again another well written post.(y):D
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
You are correct in your assumption/s concerning Mother Russia. Since the sanctions agribusiness in Russia has developed leaps and bounds,self sufficiency will be there by 2020 weather permitting. Our family are regular visitors to Russia 5/6 times a year on business and notice the positive changes on every visit.
I wish we had a leader here who cared for his/her own country as President Putin does for his own country. Before other forum members get to excited please note that I lived in the FSU for 15 years ,so do know a little bit on the subject of Russian agriculture.

And I have hardly ever left Lincolnshire - certainly never travelled much further east than the Hook Of Holland. But I note most if not all Russian oligarchs / billionaires have a house (bolt hole) in London - just in case?. Thanks you bit think I will retain our chaotic form of democratic government and inherent freedoms. And to me it looks like most other rich folk from less free countries tend to do the same buying up Central London property. Whether or not the leader cares for the country.

But each to their own.
 

Treemover

Member
Location
Offaly
It'd be fine whilst you're on the "right" side of power. Heaven help you if you find yourself out of favour. Flea to the ends of the earth, they would find you.
Oh I know, and that's why I am a reluctant fan. But I couldn't imagine anyone else running the empire.
But as a leader, I think he is far more capable than anyone else. He seems to be very hands on; and aside from corruption and questionable human rights; he is leading Russia in the right direction.
Could the same be said about Trump or May?

Potential is a great thing; and the Russians have plenty of resources and potential.
 

Walterp

Member
Location
Pembrokeshire
Most Moscow girls I knew were only interested in where I holidayed, what car I drove, and how big my apartment was. The shallow short termism of western capitalism had well and truly permeated all levels of Russian society and gangsterism was rife. I'll stick with Blighty.

Onions were well down the list.
Citizens of the developed World, like their shops and towns, are becoming more alike.

This is, surely, a Good Thing?
 
And I have hardly ever left Lincolnshire - certainly never travelled much further east than the Hook Of Holland. But I note most if not all Russian oligarchs / billionaires have a house (bolt hole) in London - just in case?. Thanks you bit think I will retain our chaotic form of democratic government and inherent freedoms. And to me it looks like most other rich folk from less free countries tend to do the same buying up Central London property. Whether or not the leader cares for the country.

But each to their own.

You jest but some informal research into property ownership in London will turn up a fair few Russians and Chinese persons.

How they do so is a mystery to me because there are strict rules about how much capital you can remove from the country so they must have creative accountants or are good at handing out notes to the right people to help the process.

The sad thing about Russia is that it had the entire set of cards at it's disposal when the USSR collapsed and should basically be more economically sorted than China or India neither of whom have anything like the natural resources.
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
The problem with russia is that it has always been run by criminals.
whether the criminally incompetent aristocracy or the criminal bolsheviks, not much between them. just a disaster.
not much different today.
 

Walterp

Member
Location
Pembrokeshire
Indeed. It's says a rather a lot about the level of corruption and degree of mistrust when the two richest men in Russia choose to come to the UK courts rather than fight their disputes in their own country.
The Global Corruption Survey of 176 countries puts the average 'score' well into 'very corrupt' territory, so that only the EU, the US, Canada and Down Under are fairly 'fair' in terms of the Rule of Law.

Much of the world is in 'Wild West' territory, including Mexico, much of South America, nearly all of Africa, and India, China and Russia.

We can see some of the effects in London: 10% of newly built dwellings are bought as investments by foreign nationals, whilst around 30% of sales of houses in the central London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and the City are sold to foreign nationals.

British farmers tend to over-estimate the possibilities of British food production, but underestimate the attraction of the Rule of Law - and the best legal system in the world - to an increasingly affluent global middle class, and kleptomaniacs everywhere.
 
There are hectares of 'unused' land in Eastern Europe, once the bread basket of that area. But in the last two decades the multi nationals have moved in and cropped a lot of it. Cargill grows thousands of acres of maize in Poland, all heading for its factories at Wroclaw and thence to Rotterdam. While US pig producers Smithfield have huge pig factories often within the forests of the north. Effluent has killed trees within miles of the plants.

This is factory farming to feed the masses cheaply, and at any cost. And it has changed Poland.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top