We've really excited about our University Partnership Grant, sponsored by the Department of State.  It was a 3-year, $300,000 grant with the Ryazan State Agricultural Academy.  Click here to go to the project webpage!

Hey!!  We're putting together a trip to Russia over spring break 2008!  Click here for more information. 

Click here to see photos of past trips which will be similar to this spring's!

I have visited the "Land of the Czars" over a dozen times, beginning in May 1994. Each of my visits has involved working with private farmers in the areas of agricultural marketing, swine and sheep production, and livestock financial management.  To help facilitate this research, I have taken three years of Russian language training, and additional courses on Russia, such as geography and culture. Many of my early trips were to the Ryazan Agricultural Academy. Ryazan is an ancient city, over 900 years old, and is located about 100 miles southeast of Moscow with a population of about 500,000 people. It was a major center during the Tatar reign.

While at the academy, I lectured to students, visited with faculty, government officials, and managers of private and collective farms. The topics of these exchanges were agricultural marketing, production and government policy. I was warmly received and immensely enjoyed the discussions, particularly with Vladimir Alexandrovich Murrovanny, who was at that time Prorector of the Academy. I was fortunate enough to have Vladimir visit me at WIU in October, 1995. It was with great sorrow that I learned of his death in 2001.  My relationship with the academy has continued, however, due to those he introduced me to and with whom friendships have developed. 

I also have extensive work with swine operations in Russia, including the largest swine farms in Russia such as Omsky Bacon, Jubilenny Swine Farm and Mordovsky Bacon.  My work with them has focused on general management with specific emphasis on genetics and nutrition.  Swine production in Russia decreased dramatically following Perestroika, but has since rebounded.  The main deterrents to increased swine production in Russia are lack of a good source of lysine and advanced veterinary care.

I have also visited farmers in the Sergeiv Posad region several times.  My first visits there were with several sheep producers in regard to forming a marketing cooperative and also helping with general production information.More recently, I worked with Father Sergey Beschasney, a Russian Orthodox priest.  Father Sergey has been very active in trying to revitalize the local agricultural economy, particularly in the area of swine production.  He is also heavily involved with an orphanage in the area and is trying to develop a more modern, family-type orphanage system in contrast to the traditional institutional orphanages.  Father Sergey has formed an organization called Dar-Gift. 

   In June of 1999 I worked with faculty at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in Moscow on a project involving the genetic evaluation of swine from purebred farms in the region.  I have found the faculty there to be very progressive, friendly, helpful and with a sincere interest in modernizing Russian agriculture.  They also have very beautiful campus buildings.  Pictures of the main building are shown below in the photo section of this page.

June 2000 found me traveling to Izhevsk in the Udmurtia republic, near the Ural mountains.  Izevsk was a closed city during soviet times as it houses several military factories.  I worked there with Alexey Maximov on a project involving a livestock feed processing plant and also involving a centralized swine genetic testing center in cooperation with the Udmurtia Ministry of Agriculture.  I hope to return there again to help fine tune the program, if necessary, and work further with livestock producers in the area.  Being in the foothills of the Urals, the scenery is beautiful, and I found the people to be extremely pleasant to work with.

My work since then has included trips to regions as diverse as Ussuriisk (near Vladivostok), Stavrapol and Kostroma. Mainly I have worked with swine farms there, but also am involved in technological updates for various Ministries of Agriculture and Agricultural academies and universities.

My work in Russia has been through the Farmer-To-Farmer program, a USAID project.  I initially traveled for Land O' Lakes, then made two visits through Winrock, but now travel for ACDI-VOCA.  Currently, ACDI-VOCA is in charge of the Farmer-To-Farmer program in Russia, and Land O' Lakes subcontracts with them, having an office in Novosibirsk.  If you're interested in becoming a part of this program, here are some links to put you in touch with the right people. The web page for the Washington, D. C. office is here --  ACDI-VOCA.

One of the best reasons to travel to Russia with ACDI-VOCA is pictured here -- an extremely friendly and helpful, yet business-minded Moscow staff:

These people keep me on track while in Russia-- Irina
Paisova, Volodya Soldatenkov, Anna Kyukova and Andrei Soloviev.

And, if they have an assignment for you and you accept, you may
find yourself working with handsome and intelligent people such
as these shown below -- hard at work in the Moscow conference room.

Signs of the true Russian traveler -- an Aeroflot ticket and a metro pass!

I have become extremely interested in the agriculture of this great county, and hope to return whenever possible. I am currently preparing a textbook on Russian agriculture to find out more about the background and current status of this industry. I have recently written the following two articles: Russian Agriculture: A Comparative View, Government Financial Assistance to Russian Agriculture, and Analysis of the Agricultural Marketing Situation in Russia
 

  Here are some of the people and sights that make it all worthwhile, organized by the city I have worked in.  Just click on the city name to see the photographs.
 

Moscow

Ryazan

Sergeiv Posad -- sorry, no weather available

Izhevsk

If I can help you with any information on Russian agriculture, or if you have info for me, 

 e-mail me!

Return to Agriculture Home Page.

Last Modification January 2008.

Number Of Visitors Since 24 April, 2001