Oklahoma Rancher Helps Putin Cut U.S. Beef Imports: Commodities

Anthony Stidham, a 48-year-old third-generation rancher from Oklahoma, is at the forefront of President Vladimir Putin’s plan to cut Russia’s $3 billion annual bill as the world’s biggest beef importer.

At the country’s largest beef farm about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Moscow, Stidham is passing on cattle-rearing skills to locals in a drive toward self-sufficiency that’s already involved shipping in about 60,000 Aberdeen Angus cattle from the U.S. and Australia.