BISMARCK, N.D. — A Bismarck consulting firm will send 170 cows to Kazakhstan in the coming week as part of a trade deal with beef producers there.
Bill Price, president of Global Beef Consultants, told the Bismarck Tribune that Kazakhstan is hoping to improve its fledgling beef industry. The North Dakota cows, all Angus and Hereford born last spring, will help the Kazakh herds thrive, he said.
"When you get over there, it's a lot like North Dakota," Price said.
He explained that the former Soviet country has a similar climate to North Dakota and also has a booming oil industry.
"When the Soviet Union broke up ... they weren't left with much," Price said. "Their beef industry is kind of low right now.
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Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said the Kazakh beef industry is comparable to North Dakota's in the 1940s.
He and Gov. John Hoeven will see the cows off on Tuesday. The cattle will be loaded into crates and shipped by plane from the Fargo airport. It'll take about 18 hours to get to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. From there, the cows will go to two reproduction facilities and a feeding center.
Price said the cattle shipment is the first in a series. The deal calls for 2,000 cattle to be shipped to Kazakhstan.
