Cargill announces herd nutrition partnership with Russia's Don Agro

SINGAPORE, 28 January 2022: Don Agro International Limited and its subsidiaries based in the Rostov region of Russia has announced nutirtion cooperation with Cargill, one of the top agricultural companies in the world.

This collaboration should increase the efficiency of dairy farming at Don Agro through increasing milk yield, improving animals' health and reducing costs.

An important advantage of working with Cargill is a change in the approach to feeding animals with attention to their need for a qualitative composition of the diet and the amount of feed consumed. The cooperation includes the introduction of Cargill's feeding programs and digital solutions.

One of them that is called DairyApp makes it possible to audit the farm directly on the tablet, saving all the necessary data that accumulates throughout usage of the application. This allows to track the progress made on all key indicators of the farm and make a detailed and in-depth analysis of the animals.

Cargill's Dairy Enteligen Premium service is also introduced to automatically collect and analyze data from the milking parlor, herd management and feeding programs, and creates a convenient visual report.

Another IT solution implemented at the Don Agro farm will be the use of the DairyMax ration calculation program, which allows not only the balance of ration based on the needs of the animal but also to predict the result and manage it, depending on the goals.

"We are pleased to cooperate with the largest milk producer in the Rostov region of Russia. We start by providing nutrition for one farm, but when we achieve results there, we are ready to take care of feeding other farms of Don Agro. We look forward to long and fruitful cooperation and believe that the modern technologies offered by Cargill will help our client achieve great results", Jon Lauritzen, Country Director of Cargill in Russia said.

The herd at the Don Agro farm in Novoselovka is approximately 1,300 heads of cattle which includes over 650 milking cows. According to preliminary calculations, cooperation with Cargill and transfer to a new nutrition scheme will increase average daily milk yield from 20.5 litres to 23 litres per milking cow.

"We have big expectations for cooperation with such an industry leader on agricultural and food markets. Firstly, interaction with Cargill is a guarantee of high quality. Secondly, the company offered us favorable conditions for cooperation, which significantly distinguished them from other nutrition providers. Novoselovka is the largest of our five farms. Therefore, the synergistic effect of increasing milk yield and optimizing the cost of nutrition should enhance profit", Marat Devlet-Kildeyev, Chief Executive Officer of Don Agro International said.

The Group owns approximately 4,000 heads of cattle which include over 2,200 milking cows. In 2021, Don Agro produced 15.831 million litres of milk. At the same time, the priority of the Company's management is the efficiency of dairy production through caring for animals' health.

The Group sells raw milk to dairy processing companies for the production of fresh milk and other high-end processed dairy products. Customers compete for the Company's raw milk, that's why Don Agro generally sells it to a single large dairy producer in any given year. Such a supply agreement allows the Group price negotiations on a regular basis based on market conditions.

About Don Agro International Limited

Don Agro is one of the largest agricultural companies in the Rostov region in Russia principally engaged in the cultivation of agricultural crops and production of raw milk. The Group is also engaged in crop production in the Volgograd region in Russia.

The Group has a total controlled land bank of 67,340 hectares, of which more than 54,420 hectares are arable land. The Group owns approximately 17,200 hectares of its controlled land bank.

The Group's operations are principally located in the Rostov region, one of the most fertile regions of Russia, situated close to the Azov and Black Seas and the Don River which house major international ports. The Group's second operating division in the Volgograd region is located in close proximity to key trading routes including the Volga River. Within the crop production segment, the Group is primarily engaged in the farming of commercial crops such as winter wheat, sunflower, and corn.

In addition, the Group is the largest milk producer in the Rostov region and owns more than 4,000 heads of dairy cattle which includes approximately 2,200 milking cows.