Agribusiness representatives are preparing for the start of the sowing season and are calculating their losses. Due to the exchange rate, machinery and spare parts have risen in price, seed purchases are more expensive, potatoes are already unprofitable for producers, and there will be nobody to buy milk due to lack of money from the population. Agrarians and stock-breeders spoke about the prospects of the new season and plans for the future at a press conference today. According to Mikhail Kopytov, chairman of the Ural Livestock Breeders Union, the agro-industrial complex is seriously affected by both the exchange rate and problems at factories in Europe. For the agricultural industry abroad, both machinery and spare parts are purchased. We managed to prepare everything for the sowing even before the pandemic, but there are concerns about how the harvesting will take place, whether they will be able to procure feed for the winter. The situation is similar with finances - there is money for sowing what will happen by the end of summer work, taking into account the growth in the cost of fuel and lubricants, until it is completely clear.
“In January, on average, we shipped to consumers in the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen regions about 300 tons of products daily, 319 tons in February, and about the same in March and April there was no decrease in consumption. But we predict that a decrease in consumer demand should be observed in the near future, and we are preparing for this, like all processing enterprises in the Sverdlovsk region. Yesterday we gathered with milk producers and thought what we would do, ”said Sergey Suetin, director of the Irbitsky Dairy Plant. According to him, the ruble depreciation affects the operation of the enterprise, because of this, materials and packaging are becoming more expensive, but the dairy has not raised prices yet. The plant belongs to the region that set the corresponding task. Suetin says that for now, despite all the costs, the company has the opportunity not to raise the price. But in the future it is necessary to solve the problem of demand, the population may buy less dairy products simply because of a lack of money. “You can’t order a cow - we’ll milk it today, but not tomorrow, we are obliged to process the entire volume that is produced. And here the issue with purchasing power is in May, June and the near future. This is one of the issues that the state, the government must solve: to highlight the social groups of the population that have already suffered and will suffer in the future. And selectively solve the problem of these groups, thereby raising the purchasing power of the population. If the state does this, then we will carry out the sowing, and we will process the entire volume of milk and provide the population with quality products, ”the director of the dairy added.
The farmers also have a difficult situation and similar problems. “The difficulties will be due to the growth of the dollar, we are very dependent on supplies from abroad, we buy seeds of vegetables and potatoes by almost 100%. A program for potato breeding in the Urals has begun to work, but its potato will appear only in two years, ”said Vitaly Dunin, chairman of the Union of Vegetable Growers. In addition to seeds, farmers also buy equipment and even chemical plant protection products for currency, since Russian counterparts do not reach the quality. As noted by Dunin, potato producers in a number of regions even before the pandemic planned to reduce planting by 10% in order to increase profitability: retail chains buy potatoes at 10 rubles, and producers would like a purchase price of 15 rubles. But the government has set the task of these regions to increase sown areas to 25%. The chairman of the union said that next year will be difficult, because purchasing power will be lower, and prices for all indicators should go up. And while farmers can not raise prices. “It all depends on the ability of the population. Well, we will make potatoes at 100 rubles, and bananas will be at 60, people will buy bananas, ”added Dunin.
Svetlana Zagorodneva