Rewritten Article:
Livestock Industry Barriers Overcome: Strategies Kazakhstan Employs to Combat Internal Challenges
Boost in Livestock Production, But Quality Concerns Linger
Latest data reveals a 4.2% hike in livestock production for the January-April 2025 period, with the sector accounting for a whopping 45% of the country's agricultural output. The muscle behind this growth? The meat and dairy sectors!
Beef production soared to 430,000 tons in 2024, marking a 7.5% year-on-year increase. January 2025 saw an impressive 5.2% beef volume growth, according to Agrosearch analysts. The overall increase in meat's live weight was a healthy 3%, due mainly to improved cattle fattening operations.
Furthermore, the dairy industry also made its mark with a growth rate of 8%, reaching close to a million tons in just four months. However, the single segment to show a decrease was poultry, with a 1% drop in egg production.
Quantity versus Quality
While the expanding livestock numbers (excluding a slight decline in pig numbers) confirm an overall positive trend, an examination of the livestock and poultry ownership structure reveals challenges. The majority of animals, including cattle and small ruminants, are concentrated in the hands of personal subsidiary farms (LPS) and farmer households (KFH and IP), accounting for less than 10% of the total. This imbalance hampers scaling, technological upgrades, and productivity improvements. In poultry, the scenario is different, with large enterprises controlling over 80% of the flock.
The present structure calls for government action to tailor support according to each segment, from direct subsidies to infrastructure solutions.
[Photo: our website]
The High Price of Extensity
Despite the increased volumes, the average milk yield per milking cow decreased, both overall and in specific categories. A similar trend is observed in egg-laying productivity, with a 1.1% drop in the agricultural enterprise sector. Such trends hint at a dependence on extensive methods: efficiency is not growing, but quantity is. Understanding the vulnerability of the existing model, the government initiatives a reform of the subsidy system. Their objectives aim to stimulate not just volumes but also quality. Among the plans:
- Increased support for cattle delivered for fattening and meat processing
- Compensation for the costs of implementing breeding cattle
- Special subsidies for sheep farming in winter-spring
- Reimbursement of wool processing costs in fine wool production
- A shift from direct subsidies to preferential lending and support for cattle weight gain during fattening
- Attracting 50 billion tenge in short-term financing for the fattening sector
- Credit programs at up to 5% per annum for purchasing breeding livestock, modernizing processing, and replenishing working capital
Additional focuses include stability, employment in rural areas, strengthening the feed base, and a push towards high-value-added products.
Previously, we reported that Kazakhstan had imposed a ban on the export of cattle starting from 15 May 2025.
Enrichment Insights:
Despite the government's efforts to enhance agricultural productivity and quality through subsidies and other financial support mechanisms, the specific reforms for improving quality in Kazakhstan's livestock sector are not detailed in publicly available information. It is believed that such reforms may be part of broader agricultural development strategies, but specific details are not provided. However, it's worth noting that Kazakhstan has implemented programs like the "Ken Dala 2" program, offering preferential financing and loan guarantees to agricultural producers, suggesting a broader strategy to support agricultural development. In addition, a new aquaculture law includes subsidies aimed at boosting productivity and improving product quality in fish farming, which could serve as a model for livestock initiatives.
Another area of government focus is export subsidies for grain to reduce transportation costs and increase exports, indicating a willingness to use subsidies to enhance competitiveness.
- I would be interested in knowing more about the specific reforms that the Kazakhstan government is planning to improve the quality of products in their livestock sector, particularly in regards to the financing and support mechanisms for cattle fattening, breeding, and processing.
- As the business owner of a dairy or meat processing operation, I could benefit from the proposed credit programs with up to 5% per annum interest rates for purchasing breeding livestock, modernizing processing, and replenishing working capital, as these could help me increase efficiency and productivity in my operations.
