ANIMAL TECH and the National Livestock Exhibition 2021 met expectations

The ANIMAL TECH International Fair for Animal Production and the National Show of Livestock were the first major trade fair event which, after a forced break of more than a year, initiated the restart of trade fair business at the Brno Exhibition Centre. The event had to be moved from the original traditional June date to enable its holding this year. Trade Fairs Brno enabled entry to the event only on the basis of the O-N-T principle (a Czech abbreviation vaccination – past disease – testing), where participants had to prove immunity or infection-free status at the entrance. According to the reactions received during the event, the expectations of the organizers, expert partners, exhibitors and visitors were met. In four days, the Brno Exhibition Centre was visited by over 20 thousand people, mostly trade visitors.

"In May, we still didn't know if the expo would take place. Nevertheless, we gave it a go together with breeders' associations and other partners. Our thanks are due to all who had the courage and confidence that the event would eventually be held. In a relatively short time, we managed to prepare a standard expo comparable to previous years," said Jiří Kuliš, CEO of Trade Fairs Brno.

Participation of all breeders' associations

The National Show of Livestock was attended by the Czech Association of Beef Cattle Breeders, the Holstein Cattle Breeders' Association, the Czech Spotted Cattle Breeders' Association, the Czech Association of Rare Dairy Cattle Breeders, the Normandy Cattle Breeders' Association, the Sheep and Goat Breeders' Association and the Pig Breeders' Association. In cooperation with expert partners, the national beef cattle championships, the Jersey national cattle championship, the Czech spotted cattle competition show, the Brown Swiss national show, the Norman cattle show and the Holstein cattle national show, sheep and goat breeding shows and horse breeding shows were held. The participation of dairy breeds was record-breaking, with some breeders participating in the national show for the first time. A beekeeping exhibition was located in Hall F. In total, almost one thousand farm animals were exhibited. Participating breeders and exhibitors appreciated the community character of the event and the possibility of a personal meeting after a long period of time.

Complete range of products for animal production

Exhibitors in Hall P and in the open areas presented a complete range of feeds, technologies for breeding, genetics and farming equipment. A total of 149 exhibitors from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland arrived to the Brno Exhibition Centre.

Great interest in the horse programme

Hall F hosted horse breeding shows, equestrian and western demonstrations, and demonstrations of horse work for four whole days. In total, almost 100 horses presented themselves in demonstrations and shows, and the growing interest in these animals was evidenced by the still full stands.

Praise to the work of Czech breeders

At the opening ceremony, which took place on Sunday at 11 o'clock, the guests praised the work of Czech breeders. Livestock is an important export item; since the last National Show of Livestock, the Czech Republic has exported breeding heifers worth more than 1.3 billion Czech crowns. The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová, Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Economy, Agriculture and Transport of the Senate of the Czech Parliament Hana Žáková and Governor of the South Moravian Region Jan Grolich.

Focus on professional visitors

The concept of the ANIMAL TECH expo and the National Show of Livestock in 2021 has primarily focused on trade visitors from the field of animal production. In accordance with that, the supporting programme featured the 10th Central European Veterinary Congress, which was full to capacity.

The National Gamekeeping Show was not included in this year's event, which reduced the attendance of the general public. In the following years, however, the proven concept implemented in previous years will continue: the focus on animal production, animal welfare, the importance of animal breeding for maintaining a healthy landscape and care for wildlife. Next edition of this expo is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2023, and the National Gamekeeping Show will be featured again as part of it.

What people said about the expo

Miroslav Toman, Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic

My thanks go to the organizers of this beautiful event. I am proud to see this as a national show. Sunday is not a day for working, but people have come here nevertheless, because farmers work 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. The animals have to be taken care of every day and farmers are working very hard, which is also reflected at this beautiful expo.

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Jan Doležal, President of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic

It is important to maintain animal production, because sustainability cannot exist without animal production, which gives us farm manure and thus nutrition for crop production. My thanks go to farmers for managing everything around the covid pandemic, although they can't go on home office and work remotely.

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Martin Pýcha, President of the Agricultural Union of the Czech Republic

The expo was prepared at a very difficult time, when the organizers and breeders did not know if it would be held at all. I want to thank them for the work they have done in preparation, and for the fact that even in difficult times they kept developing their businesses. The way they managed it can be seen here in the hall, because farmers are constantly improving their breeds and Czech breeding is a worldwide standard of quality.

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Jan Grolich, Governor of the South Moravian Region

It is good to see that this expo has been successfully organized and that the current measures are such that visitors can also enjoy it. This event is not just about business, it is not only for exhibitors, but also for the public. It's good that people can be here because they really enjoy it.

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Martin Sedláček, director of Profi Press s.r.o.

Thanks to Veletrhy Brno for finding the courage to organize this wonderful expo.

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Václav Jungwirth, Chairman of the Czech Association of Beef Cattle Breeders

I highly appreciate this expo, after a long time it is an opportunity to meet breeders and compare their work. It also has a great acclaim in neighbouring countries, where they have not had the courage to organize anything similar yet. For our breeders, this expo is something like harvest. It will definitely help us even towards foreign visitors who arrived despite covid complications. This year's international participation is good for the current conditions.

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Josef Kučera, Executive Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Czech-Moravian Breeders' Society

The National Show is a showcase of Czech breeding. Unfortunately, this year's travel is still a bit limited by covid, but even so, I met a lot of foreign-speaking visitors here. It can be seen that even though there was less time to prepare, there are top animals to see and they are beautifully prepared for the presentation. It is an opportunity for us to show the best that breeders in the Czech Republic are able to offer their customers. The expo is a festivity for breeders.

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Kateřina Vodrážková, KV Felted Designs

I am in Brno for the first time at this expo and I am exhibiting my products here, mainly felted clothes and accessories. It is interesting for visitors to see everything here in one place, from sheep through raw wool and its processing to the finished product.

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Vít Mareš, chairman of the Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders

At the expo, we make ourselves known not only to professionals, but also to the general public. Visitors should realize that sheep and goat breeding has its place in this country and is purposeful. As regards sheep, the non-productive function is important, meaning the maintenance of those grassy areas, cannot be handled by mechanical means . We also want to show the benefits of these animals. Wool grows on sheep, which is currently much underappreciated. And their meat is suitable for consumption, dietetic, healthy and interesting.

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Petr Zajíček, Vice-President of the Czech Association of Breeders of Rare Dairy Cattle

I am glad that something happened at last and we were able to meet a lot of breeders, with whom we had talked only by phone for a long time, but did not see each other in person. We were able to present our best animals here and compare them with each other. The period of holding was a bit difficult for farmers, because the demonstration of animals requires about one and a half to two months of preparation and this period fell on summer holidays this year, however, in the end we managed to get a record-breaking number of animals for the show in our three breeds. The breeders who participated in the show were satisfied.

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Jan Zámečník, Vice-Chairman of the Association of Normandy Cattle Breeders of the Czech Republic

We like this year, because after the fast caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the ice was finally broken and we are once again in a standard situation where we can show the public and other breeders the results of our efforts. In our association, we place emphasis mainly on the quality of production. The Normandy breed is genetically equipped to have exceptional quality products, both milk and meat with special marble texture. Our cows enjoyed a great acclaim at this year's show and interest in them has grown significantly, both among breeders and consumers.

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Pavel Král, director of the Association of Czech Spotted Cattle Breeders

The willingness of our members to exhibit was surprisingly high, I appreciate their helpfulness and the fact that there were also new exhibitors of Czech spotted cattle. So the show was a success. There were a lot of visitors on Sunday, while Monday was mediocre and on Tuesday a lot of people came in again. Unfortunately, this year's weather was not very good for the exhibition, because in the Vysočina region and in the foothills, farmers are still catching up with the harvest, which has not been completed in traditional periods. Our breeders who participated are satisfied with this year's expo.

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Aleš Bychl, Secretary of the Holstein Cattle Breeders Association of the Czech Republic

The breeders were eager, after a long time they could meet up again. We were surprised at how many people arrived. They are heart breeders for whom animals are everything. They definitely don't do it for profit, but they love to do it. Although the breeders had a shorter time to prepare the animals, the level of the championship was basically standard. The exhibition does not have a direct commercial effect, rather it gives a certain reputation to breeders who exhibit frequently. The prestige of breeders grows by participating in the expo.

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Miroslav Hrdlička, Chairman of the Board of Directors, 1. zemědělská a. s. Chorušice

Breeding involves presentations at exhibitions and a demonstration of where the breeding in a given breed has reached. It is also a matter of comparing the level of your breeding with others and find out how they do it elsewhere. We liked this year's show. We are breeders with three breeds of dairy cattle – Jersey, Brown Swiss and Holstein. We participated in all three competitions and we are very happy that in addition to the very well-established show of the Holstein breed, the fourth year of the Jersey and Brown Swiss breed championship took place. We scored everywhere and together with children's prizes from the "A Child and a Calf" competition, we won eleven cups.

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Libor Novotný, ACO FUNKI A/S

We were at the fair to make some promo for our dealers. We are glad that thanks to the expo, our sellers and customers got a broad overview of what our company can offer to breeders all around the Czech Republic!

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Frantisek Kolář, Axel Industries

We really liked the fair. After the Sunday attended by lay public, our stand was dominated by trade visitors, which was what we needed.

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Petr Zaoral, Čabová family farm

We are satisfied, our Ginger won Miss Sympathy and we presented A2 milk here. We made ice cream from it for visitors, which was really in high demand.

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Dušan Kořínek, Schaumann

We were really looking forward to a physical meeting with the breeders, we actually do meet them, but here they came to see us. And that's what we were after.

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Jaromír Bubík, DeLaval

We arrived at the expo with a lot of hot news, we were here last time two years ago and we really missed the farmers and the local atmosphere. We believe that our participation here will increase our sales!

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Martin Haitl, Mikrop Čebín

Our stand at the expo was busy, permanently occupied and full to capacity. We also created a background for our customers where they could come and get some refreshments.

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