Russian backtracks on plans to ban free-range poultry farming
The Russian Agricultural Ministry has published a long-debated draft of veterinary rules, imposing onerous restrictions on free-range farming. However, several important exceptions are made, including for small backyard and organic farms.
Under the regulation, free-range farming will be completely banned for companies with poultry flocks of over 1,000 heads.
The practice is also prohibited for large farms, keeping between 50 and 1,000 birds. The Agricultural Ministry stipulated that free-range is only allowed on an isolated site within the farm, the so-called ‘solarium’. The birds will need to be provided with manholes for independent exit to the solarium, and different species must have independent access to the site.
The Ministry said organic farms are still allowed to have free-range animals provided their territory is fenced to prevent entry by unauthorised persons, vehicles, and wild animals. Devices that repel wild and synanthropic birds should also be installed in the poultry grazing areas.
The rules are slated to come into force from 1 September 2025.
A compromise
The regulation is a compromise between a complete ban on free-range poultry lobbied by industrial farms over bird flu fears and small-scale farmers. The previous version of the regulation the Agricultural Ministry published in May 2024 imposed a full ban on free-range farming. The idea, however, faced backlash from the Russian environmentalists and organic farmers, who warned that the strict measure would ruin entire segments of the poultry industry.
Russian People Farmers Association, which unites backyard farmers, warned that the rules would entail dramatic consequences for the Russian poultry market. The organisation calculated that nearly 18% of eggs and 8% of broiler meat are delivered to the domestic market by backyard farms, through the share of this industry segment has been shrinking in recent years.
Social tension
A ban on free-range farming was also expected to trigger a sharp rise in social tension since poultry farming provides a means of survival for millions of Russian households.
Ilya Zlobin, an expert with Voice for Animals, an ecological organisation, noted that in the organic sector, free-range farming is a mandatory condition required by Russian law. Zlobin assumed that strict rules would end not only organic but also backyard farming, where free-range is also a dominant breeding method.
These fears were echoed by the Union of Organic Farming, which stated that under new conditions, all of its members keeping poultry would have to cease operation.
