Krasnoyarsk company, Sibirskaya Gubernia (part of ALPI), has announced that it will cease producing turkeys at Yasnogorskaya poultry plant in Kemerovo region, according to Meat Russia.

The company says that significant increases in the cost of imported feed and other materials due to the falling value of the ruble has made turkey production unprofitable. To return the profitability of the enterprise, Sibirskaya Gubernia has decided to start production of 'heavy' broilers.

Yasnogorskaya has facilities for the production of 1,500 tonnes of meat (carcass weight basis) per month. The enterprise is equipped with German feed equipment from Big Dutchman and a slaughtering line from Stork with a capacity of 1,000 birds per hour.

The company also reports that falling has led to a large stockpile of over 500 tonnes of frozen turkey meat at the plant.

Replacing the turkeys, the growing and processing of heavy broilers have been already started at Yasnogorskaya. The growing period will be extended up to 60 days instead of usual 40 to 45 days so the broilers achieve a weight of more than three kilograms. The change is compatible with the equipment installed at Yasnogorskaya, which was designed for handling large birds.

Meat Russia reports that ALPI expects Yasnogorskaya to increase poultry production output from 17,000 tons of turkey to 20,000 to 30,000 tons of broiler meat per year.