Russian cattle compound feed output up 6% in first half of 2026

Production of compound feed for cattle in Russia is growing faster than its own long-run trend. Output in the segment rose 6% in the first six months of 2026, a result zol.ru described as a high figure for the category. In 2025 the segment produced 3.2 million tonnes. The publication ties the acceleration to a shift toward intensive technologies in both dairy and beef cattle farming.

Six percent against a 4.4% trend

zol.ru puts the average annual growth rate of cattle compound feed production at 4.4%, which makes the first-half reading of 6% clearly ahead of the multi-year pace. The publication also notes that this growth comes from a lower base than other livestock feed segments, so even a strong percentage gain moves comparatively modest absolute volumes.

That asymmetry cuts both ways. Percentage growth from a smaller base is easier to sustain than in a mature segment, but the series is also more sensitive to individual projects: a single large dairy complex switching from farm-mixed rations to purchased industrial feed can visibly move a regional total. Half-year data does not separate these effects.

Concentrates displace farm forage

The driver identified by zol.ru is structural rather than cyclical: a rising share of concentrates in cattle rations, used to lift productivity. This is the technical core of the story. Traditional cattle feeding leans on bulk forage — silage, haylage, hay — grown on the farm, mixed on site and never passing through a feed mill or through industrial production statistics. Concentrate feeding moves part of that ration to a purchased product with a fixed formula, produced off-farm.

The two sub-segments respond differently. In dairy herds, higher concentrate share is a lever on milk yield per cow. In beef cattle, the return shows up in daily weight gain and in shorter time to finishing. Both routes raise output per animal rather than per head of herd, which is why feed volumes can grow without a matching expansion in cattle numbers.

Pull-through on feed raw materials

Each additional tonne of industrially produced compound feed draws inputs out of the crop and processing chain:

• feed grain, which supplies the energy base of the ration;
• protein components, including oilseed meals and cakes from domestic crushing;
• premixes, vitamins, minerals and feed additives, the group where import dependence is typically highest.

For crushers and grain handlers, a growing domestic cattle feed segment represents incremental demand that competes with export channels for the same tonnage. For feed mills, it is a reason to add or reallocate capacity toward cattle formulations, which differ from pig and poultry lines in fibre content and in the handling of by-products. The economics of the switch sit with the farm: concentrate feeding only pays while the value of the additional milk or weight gain exceeds the cost of the purchased ration.

What the second half will show

The 6% figure is a half-year reading and does not establish the full-year result. Comparability with the second half depends on harvest timing and on whether the growth reflects new mill capacity coming on stream or higher utilisation of existing plants. zol.ru does not break the number down by region or by dairy versus beef end use, and does not give a first-half volume in tonnes.

The 4.4% average annual rate remains the reference point for the segment. Sustained readings above it would confirm that the concentrate share in cattle rations is still climbing and that the shift to intensive feeding is broadening beyond the largest operations. A return to trend in the second half would instead point to timing effects in the first six months rather than a durable change in feeding practice.