Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, recently held a town-hall meeting of his own. The topic was local poultry, and the guests invited to attend were all Russian farmers and poultry producers. He wanted to talk about reducing the amount of food imports to a healthily growing agricultural 
community like Russia. He stated that 25% of all poultry meats were being imported, a statistic he vows to change dramatically. To do this, he is offering government assistance to farms in need of modernization, and revisiting the regulations set by the European Union in 2008, concerning animal based agricultural standards. He stresses that Russia should adopt these rules, and begin to process meats in a way that makes local producers comparable to those of the EU. He also points out that the USA should begin to enforce these new safety, sanitation, and welfare restrictions if they are to continue profiting from the Russian market. As of now, we are signed on to sell 600,000 tons of poultry to the Russian people in 2010, and I ask: Can we afford to ignore this demand?
What’s more, say what you will about Putin… but I like a leader who works alongside the provincials. If were to speak out against the current administration on any subject, it would be that it has failed to embrace the agricultural community that is responsible for holding our culture together. I would really like to see someone from DC visit the Sedgwick County Extension Office and have a public discussion on marketing wheat products, and reducing grain imports.
Could we learn something from Russia?
