A group of Russian and Kazakh livestock importers and farmers are in Ireland this week as part of visit organised by Bord Bia.
The group of some 15 delegates is looking to develop trade links for Irish bovine semen and genetic technologies, Bord Bia has said.
Despite the ongoing Russian ban on the importation of many agricultural and food products from the EU, this potential trade link falls outside the scope of the existing ban.
The group visited the Tullamore Show on Sunday and will visit AI and semen collection companies and farms this week from Cork to Roscommon.
The Russian and Kazakh delegates will visit Ivor and Joe Deverells’ cattle farm in Offaly and the farms of John Farrell and Hubert Maxwell in Roscommon as well as the Cork Co-operative Marts’ Assembly Centre, Ireland’s largest livestock auctioneering company, Alltech and Dovea Genetics.
The group will also meet with the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine and Enterprise Ireland.
The visit was funded by Ireland/Russia Joint Economic Commission (JEC), following a successful bid for funding by the Bord Bia office in Mosco. The JEC aims to advance Ireland’s economic interests with JEC partner countries.
A second project, which has recently been approved by the JEC, will see a national stand hosting Irish agricultural companies at Golden Autumn, Russia’s largest agricultural fair, later this year.
This will allow Bord Bia to raise Ireland’s agricultural profile in Russia, whilst also providing an opportunity to develop business relations in live cattle and pigs and semen as well as agricultural machinery and animal nutrition.