Modern and promising opportunities to improve the economic efficiency of grain farming in Russia.

The article evaluates, according to the criterion of maximizing national economic efficiency, alternative directions for the development of grain production and export known among agricultural scientists; significant difficulties in the functioning of the production of grain, livestock products and their supply to foreign markets in the changed external economic conditions are shown. In this regard, the well-known concepts of developing grain exports and increasing its consumption in animal husbandry as fodder are assessed in a new way, taking into account the likely decrease in the output of final products due to the limited access of the Russian agricultural industry to the use of high-performance efficient technologies in all its divisions, including grain farming. In contrast to the well-known arguments that take into account the individual pros and cons of different areas of development of the grain subcomplex of the agro-industrial complex, the article proposes the principle and tools for their clear quantitative measurement using methods of economic and mathematical modeling. It suggests both the complete acceptance or rejection of one of the directions, and their optimal ratio.