My name is Igor Khamadishin and I am Chairman of Agro Leader cooperative in the Republic of Tatarstan.

I started my business of raising chickens, geese and turkeys back in 2005. I also grow grains and grasses for feed on my farm.

Based on the experience that I have gained over the years, the only way to make poultry profitable is to form a cooperative. The overwhelming majority of farmers produce “raw material”, i.e. just are engaged in raising chickens, geese or turkeys. From my experience the missing component is meat processing and access to the markets. This way a farmer gets maximum profit instead of getting pennies for live weight birds.

In 2012 a few of us got together and formed an agricultural-consumer cooperative that would combine raising poultry, its processing and selling to the consumers. To make that happen we built a poultry processing plant and “lockers as well as meat distribution chains. The new facility meets all the sanitary and technological requirements.

Our coop consists of ten founding members and there are more who would like to join. Collectively we raise 45 thousand geese, 100 thousand broiler chickens and 15 thousand turkeys.

Within the incentive program administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Procurement, a new road is being built to have an easy access to our processing facility. We also enjoy subsidies when we buy necessary equipment. That money comes from the Republic of Tatarstan.