MOSCOW – Output of meat and byproducts in Russia rose 4.4 percent to 1.2 million metric tons in 2011, reported Bloomberg.

Beef production retreated 12 percent to 183,000 tons and pork output rose 10 percent to 812,000 tons. Poultry and byproduct output, which is tallied separately, rose 8.5 percent to almost 3 million tons.

Russia's national cattle herd expanded to 20.1 million head at the end of December. That included 8.9 million cows, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier. Pig numbers rose 0.7 percent to 17.3 million. Numbers for sheep and goats advanced 2.7 percent to 22.4 million, while figures for chickens climbed 4.8 percent to 471 million.