Chicken prices in Nghe An fall, why?

The "capital" of chickens has fallen.

Mr. Pham Van Chinh in Nhan Tien hamlet, Tien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) - the owner of a large chicken farm in the area has had to "bear losses" since last year until now. Despite the losses, he still has to restock the flock because investing in a coop is very expensive and if not used, it will deteriorate very quickly.

The sharp drop in chicken prices has led to heavy losses for chicken farmers. In the photo: A chicken farm owner in Tien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) sadly looks at the dilapidated chicken farm system. Photo: Tien Dung

However, since the beginning of the year, the price of animal feed has increased sharply, while the price of products has not increased but has fallen miserably. A 25kg bag of bran costs 360,000 VND, an increase of 15% compared to last year. Meanwhile, the current price of chicken is 38,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, compared to the input cost, it is a heavy loss, because the price of chicken meat must reach 70,000 VND/kg for farmers to make a profit.

“Currently, the cost of buying feed is more expensive than selling chickens, so I am discouraged and do not want to feed the chickens anymore. Now the bank interest is due and chickens are too cheap,” said Mr. Chinh.

The chicken farm of more than 10,000 chickens owned by Ms. Tran Thi Mai next door is also on fire. She said that the high price of animal feed and all other costs in the farming process such as medicine, electricity, water, and labor are also on the rise, making it even more difficult to maintain the farm.

One of the reasons for the sharp drop in chicken prices in Nghe An in recent times is the abundant supply. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Currently, Tien Thanh commune has 50 large and small farms raising livestock and poultry. Mr. Phan Van Vu - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said: The current situation of high livestock and poultry feed prices, falling chicken prices, and difficult output has caused households to suffer because most people have to borrow capital to build farms.

The government and the people want animal feed companies to recalculate the cost of poultry feed to share with farmers, to restore the herd and stabilize production. Because, for large farms, each time they import feed, the cost is up to several hundred to billions of dong, so farmers cannot handle it. Next is to propose banks to reduce interest rates, or have measures to extend the term for chicken farm owners.

In Ma Thanh commune, the livestock farming atmosphere is also very gloomy at this time. Standing in front of a dilapidated chicken farm, Mr. Tran Manh Linh in Dong Bau hamlet said that his family has 2 chicken farms, but since last year until now, they have suffered heavy losses.

Mr. Tran Dinh Canh - Chairman of Ma Thanh Commune People's Committee confirmed that there are 40 farms and ranches in the area. Many households do not want to take care of their livestock due to high feed prices and plummeting chicken prices, and some farms have seen massive deaths of chickens. Tien Thanh and Ma Thanh communes are highland areas with year-round drought, so agricultural and forestry crops are always unsuccessful. Now that livestock farming has also failed, people's lives have been turned upside down.

To raise a flock of chickens weighing nearly 2 kg each for sale, a large investment is required, due to the high price of breeding stock, especially feed and other supplies. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Dien Trung VietGAP Livestock Cooperative (Dien Chau) is one of the localities with the most chicken farms in the province. At this time, farmers here are not interested in the profession, because chicken prices have dropped to rock bottom. Mr. Bui Sy Thanh - owner of a chicken farm in Hamlet 9, Dien Trung Commune said that chickens were ready to be sold from the beginning of June, but traders reduced the price every day, from 45,000 VND, after only 3 days it dropped to 41,000 VND/kg. Although he knew it was a big loss, he had to sell, because the more he raised, the more he lost, due to high feed prices.

“To raise a chicken to a weight of about 1.8kg/chicken, the investment in breed, food, medicine, etc. costs about 85,000 VND. Therefore, selling a chicken at this time will result in a loss of about 11,000 VND. Only when the price of chicken reaches 55,000 VND/kg or more will there be a profit,” Mr. Thanh shared.

Reasons for the sharp drop in chicken prices

Discussing this issue, Mr. Le Van Hong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Thanh district said: Currently, chicken farming households are in dire straits not only in Tien Thanh and Ma Thanh communes but also in the entire district.

This situation has been recommended to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial People's Committee for macro-level intervention. In addition, Mr. Hong also recommended that localities should not raise livestock indiscriminately and spontaneously, but there should be a combination between the State, enterprises and breeders. Regarding livestock in general, it is necessary to follow planning, orientation and closely follow market demand to avoid the situation of hot development, good harvest, low prices or shortage of goods, increasing prices as has happened before.

According to the recommendations of the professional agency, while the price of chicken has dropped sharply, farmers need to take good care of their flocks, especially on extremely hot days. Because if the flock of chickens die, farmers will suffer more losses. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Dau Ngoc Hoa - Director of VietGAP Dien Trung Livestock Cooperative said that the price of broiler chicken has decreased for many reasons, including the reason that students are entering summer vacation, so schools do not consume chicken and eggs anymore. Meanwhile, the supply in the market is abundant.

Due to experience from many years ago, people anticipated to reduce the flock. Therefore, from nearly 140 chicken farms, now only nearly 30 farms are maintaining the raising, the rest are temporarily stopped to repair the barns and treat the environment, and will re-raise the flock when appropriate.

Mr. Ngo Duc Quynh - Deputy Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said: The reason for the current sharp drop in chicken prices is due to reduced consumption, while supply has not decreased, especially in places where people raise chicken spontaneously. At the same time, after localities in the province harvest spring rice, people take advantage of the post-harvest fields to let ducks eat spilled rice and other insects, so the ducks grow quickly, the meat is delicious, people switch to eating more duck meat in the summer.

Another reason for the sharp drop in chicken prices is that farmers lack information about the livestock situation such as market prices, consumption, and local herd size.

Mr. Quynh said that in order for farmers to reduce losses, they first need to have effective solutions to prevent heat for chickens. In addition to airy barns, there must also be a cooling system. At the same time, take advantage of available food sources such as corn, rice, and other agricultural by-products mixed with industrial feed to reduce input costs, because the price of animal feed is currently high.