Interest shown in the separate exhibition of livestock was a pleasure for us says David Lipovský of the Bohemian-Moravian Breeders Association

The National Show of Livestock is a real breeders‘ feast. This is testified by the fact that living specimens were carried to Brno by 36 vehicles, some of which had to come several times. The organizers addressed virtually all carriers licensed to transport livestock. "This is the largest concentration of farm animals exhibited in one place in the Czech Republic," confirms David Lipovský, head of the breeding department of Czech-Moravian Breeders Association, on behalf of the organizers.

What do figures say about the show?
To recapitulate, there are 360 representatives of meat breeds of cattle on the display, 160 dairy cows, 60 pigs, over 200 sheep and goats including lambs and kids, 100 horses and 30 western horses.

The Czech-Moravian Breeders Association took to organize the entire livestock show for the first time. How complicated was that?
It is very demanding to gather and logistically ensure the transport of the animals, provide barriers, carers, feed, collection of milk and dung, etc. The organization of an exhibition of this size would of course not be possible without financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture and without the background provided to us by the Brno Exhibition Centre. Of course, BVV give us time limits. In this context, I would like to mention one point: we have installed a special floor covering under most of the displayed cattle, which allows us to quickly build up the display  and then clean it up in order to make the hall ready for the next event.

How does this year’s show differ from previous years?
In previous years, the show of livestock was part of the Techagro fair, where a large part of the area was occupied by equipment, or in years when Techagro did not take place, it ran concurrently with a pet show. This year is the first time when the show of livestock runs independently, only with its accompanying programmes. I am pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors that the first individual year has come up to. Perhaps we have started a good tradition by that.

The exhibition has in its title the word “national“, but judging from the attendance of experts, it already has an international nature. For example, international jurors came from the Netherlands, France or the USA, foreign journalists, organizers also invited a Dutch professional photographer specializing in cattle photography, and many foreign delegations interested in collaborating in the field of genetic material were introduced during the opening ceremony. What do you see the main benefit in?
In the short run the result cannot be seen immediately, but there are breeders meeting here and comparing their breeding results among them. I would also like to emphasize that the ministry has managed to bring together over 100 participants of foreign missions from different parts of the world who were introduced to our genetics. We are heard about again. From the interest demonstrated, I estimate that future business relationships may be shaping with countries that are not yet interesting to us today, but might become interesting in the future. Examples are the countries of the former Soviet Union, in which many companies already have contacts nowadays and in which some animals are exported, even if they are limited by the veterinary conditions or the purchasing power of the countries concerned. But the potential of these countries is enormous, and surely agriculture will gain more significance there. It would be good if the Czech Republic were to ride this wave of increasing interest.

Various associations of breeders, whether Czech beef cattle, Holstein cattle, meat cattle, etc., are presented at the exhibition. Is it possible to say briefly how the various  groups are doing?
That's cannot be said so simply. Last year, for example, was very difficult for dairy cow breeders, because milk was on a downward sinusoidal wave of purchase prices. Now it is a bit rising, but every year is problematic for someone else – for some it’s more profitable, for others less effective and this is changing constantly. I think farmers have become accustomed to having fat and slim years, and they must learn to count on it in their economic plans.

In your opinion, what is the outlook for the next yearly edition of the show?
When I see the interest of visitors this year, I think the current exhibitors will come again and those who have come just to take a look this year will seriously consider their participation.