Establishing industry connections between the two countries
The annual Russian Dairy Motor Rally has gone international for the first time since being launched in 2010 and took place in Canada on July 16 – 21, 2018.
Fifty-five Russian participants, including dairy farmers and producers, owners and top managers of dairy factories, governmental officials, potential investors in the dairy industry and representatives of mass media, arrived in Canada on July 14, 2018. According to the Dairy News, a Russian online dairy media source and an organizer of this annual event, the Russian delegation toured 22 dairy industry facilities across Ontario and Quebec by 20 cars to learn more about Canadian dairy production and business. The Rally was stated to be “beyond the [sic] politics.”
“Within a few days [sic] unknown people became a team, got acquainted with [sic] countries and connected the two continents due to a common cause and one industry – the production of milk and dairy products.”
The Dairy Motor Rally was brought to Canada by Canadian farmers who had participated in such an event in Russia in 2017. The Dairy News acknowledges the Canadian Planning Team, i.e. Leading Livestock Genetics, Jaylor, Agri Tours Canada Inc. and City of Kawartha Lakes besides other partners. Euro Tier, an international trade fair for animal production, acted as a global partner of the Dairy Motor Rally Canada. Olga Hunger, Area Director for Eastern Europe from Euro Tier organizer DLG, assessing the results of their trip, stated that “having visited the Canadian farmers and having participated in active discussions with them and with Russian milk producers, we understood that business communications and exchange of experience were beneficial for everyone.” “The Canadian party was very surprised by the openness of our people, and the Russian representatives of the dairy industry were surprised by the openness of the Canadians,” noted Mikhail Mishchenko, Director of the Russian Dairy Research Center.
In 2019, the event is planned to be held back in Russia – in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Udmurt Republic and Kirov region, and the organizers are counting on international farmers.
