VOA慢速英语:An American Cowboy Aims to Help Russia's Beef Herd

Twenty years ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed, so did beef production in Russia. Breeding and management programs for beef cattle fell apart. Today, Russia imports much of its beef. Cattle are raised mostly for dairy.
20年前苏联解体时，俄罗斯的牛肉生产也瓦解了。肉牛的饲养和管理计划也崩溃了。如今，俄罗斯大部分牛肉都是进口的。养牛大多是为了提供奶制品。

Instead of beef, Russians have expanded poultry and pork operations. These are faster and less costly to start. But there is some new investment in beef production. And one of those involved is an American rancher and cowboy named Darrell Stevenson.
俄罗斯通过扩大家禽和猪肉的饲养代替牛肉。这些饲养可以更快开始，而且花费更少。但是也有一些对牛肉生产的新投资。其中包括一个叫做达雷尔．斯蒂文森的美国牧场主和牛仔。

He sees plenty of room for growth -- Russia's beef herd is less than one percent the size of the American herd.
他观察到大量增长空间——俄罗斯的肉牛群比美国肉牛群的十分之一还少。

DARRELL STEVENSON (0:20):  "Tremendous opportunity in this country in terms of the vast resources. Tremendous amount of available ground, whether it is tilled or not.”
达雷尔．斯蒂文森(0:20)：“从大量资源来说，这个国家有着极大的机遇。无论耕种与否，有大量的可用土地。”

In late two thousand ten, Darrell Stevenson began sending cows, bulls, horses and equipment to Russia. He sent more than fourteen hundred animals. About a third of them traveled by ship. The others came by plane.
2010年底，达雷尔．斯蒂文森开始运送乳牛，公牛，马和设备到俄罗斯。他运送过去的动物超过1400只。其中大约1/3是通过船运送过去的。其余的是通过飞机运送。

Mr. Stevenson has two Russian partners in what they call the Stevenson-Sputnik Ranch. The ranch is located on almost six thousand hectares of land in Voronezh in the black earth area of southern Russia.
在他们称之为斯蒂文森-人造卫星农场，斯蒂文森有另外两个俄罗斯伙伴。这个农场位于俄罗斯南部黑土地区的沃罗涅日，占地约6000公顷。

The Angus and Hereford cattle came from ranches in his home state of Montana. The imported cows have given birth to their first calves.
安格斯牛和赫里福德种牛是从他的家乡蒙大拿州农场运来的。这些进口的牛已经生下第一批小牛。

DARRELL STEVENSON  (0:09):  “We are helping establish a local beef herd, a regional beef herd, and eventually a national beef herd.”
达雷尔．斯蒂文森(0:09)：“我们正在帮忙建立一个当地肉牛群，然后是整个地区的肉牛群，最后是一个国家的肉牛群。”

Ekaterina Zimina grew up in St. Petersburg and trained as a veterinarian. She worked last year on Darrell Stevenson's ranch in Montana to learn American methods. She says Russians have a lot of experience with dairy cows in barns, but not with beef cattle on open rangeland.
Ekaterina Zimina在圣彼得堡长大，并受训成为一名兽医。她去年在达雷尔．斯蒂文森的蒙大拿州农场工作，学习美国的方法。她说俄罗斯对牲口棚中养殖奶牛很有经验，但对户外牧场养殖肉牛没有太多经验。

EKATERINA ZIMINA: "Because it is really, really hard to find good enough people in Russia that can work with beef cattle, because Russia is world-known as dairy country. We have lots of dairy herds, dairy cows. But managing dairy and beef cows is a totally different thing.”
Ekaterina Zimina：“因为在俄罗斯很难要找到足够好的人来饲养肉牛，因为俄罗斯是世界出名的奶制品国家。我们拥有许多乳牛群和奶牛。但是经营奶制品和牛肉是完全不同的。”

Darrell Stevenson is not the only American involved in projects to build a high-quality beef herd in Russia. Reaching that goal will take time -- and a lot more cows. But Ms. Zimina says the ranch in Voronezh can help show Russians about life on the range.
达雷尔．斯蒂文森并不是唯一一个在俄罗斯参加建立高质量肉牛畜牧项目的美国人。实行那个目标需要时间和更多的牛。但是Zimina小姐说沃罗涅日的农场可以帮助展示俄罗斯牧场上的生活。

EKATERINA ZIMINA: "We together can show these people that this is not something from the movie, that cowboys really exist, and it is a really hard job and that is possible to do this even in Russia.”
Ekaterina Zimina：“我们一起告诉人们这不是电影上的情节，牛仔的确存在，而且这确实是一项艰难的工作，但是即使在俄罗斯也有可能实现。”