High straw prices, Nghe An livestock farms face difficulties

At this time, households doing business in buffalo and cows in Dai Son commune (Do Luong) have increased the number of buffalo and cows exported and imported as well as the number of trips to transport and deliver "goods". On average, there is one trip every 2-3 days with the quantity of 10-20 buffalo and cows depending on the size and type according to customer orders.

Along with the increased amount of imported buffaloes and cows, households also have to increase the amount of food for buffaloes and cows to regain their strength during transportation, especially during harsh, cold weather to ensure that buffaloes and cows do not get sick or hungry.

“Usually, we supplement the feed for buffaloes and cows mainly with straw. Every year, the traders here still maintain orders from straw producers or straw wholesalers to buy rolled straw.

For household straw production, we order from households mainly in Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan districts, and some communes in Do Luong district to buy straw. As for rolled straw, we order from trading centers in Hung Nguyen and Thanh Chuong districts. This year, from the end of December 2023 until now, the price of rolled straw has skyrocketed," said Ms. Tran Thi Thuy in Hamlet 1, Dai Son Commune (Do Luong).

Also in the buffalo and cow trading business, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuan said that from last year until around November 2023, the price of rolled straw was stable at 32,000 - 35,000 VND/roll and was delivered to customers' homes without any shipping fees.

The price of straw bought from households does not fluctuate much. When buying straw, we go to the house to observe and then bargain. Normally, a large, tall straw costs about 3 million VND, a smaller, shorter straw costs from 1.5 to 2 million VND.

However, from mid-December 2023 until now, the price of rolled straw has continuously increased. In early January 2024, the price of rolled straw has reached 45,000 VND/roll excluding shipping costs.

“With the quantity purchased at a time of several dozen to hundreds of rolls of straw, the price keeps increasing like this, the business is also affected, along with the price of buffalo and cows has been falling sharply for 2 years now, we traders also have to consider reducing the quantity of goods. At the same time, find other sources of food such as growing elephant grass, buying corn, other local vegetables to replace straw to reduce costs,” said Ms. Thuy.

Raising nearly 1,000 dairy bulls, 3B cows and buffaloes along with hundreds of deer, Mr. Ho Sy Dieu in Nghia Tien commune (Thai Hoa town) has to spend 7-8 tons of dry straw as rough feed for livestock. If in November 2023, the price of straw was only 32,000-35,000 VND/roll, equivalent to 30 kg, then in mid-December 2023, the price of dry straw gradually increased, now soaring to 42,000-45,000 VND/roll.

“For large farms with a scale of 500-1,000 buffaloes and cows, the source of straw in the province is not enough and must be purchased from the southern provinces or Thai Binh and Nam Dinh regions. Therefore, the price of straw also depends on the transportation cost.

Currently, to save costs, our farm has to use our family's vehicle to transport goods to and from the farm and bring straw back. If we hire them to transport it to our place, the price has increased to 52,000-55,000 VND/roll. In total, each day, just for straw, we spend 9-10 million VND, an increase of 2-3 million VND compared to before the price of straw increased," said Mr. Ho Sy Dieu.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Anh - a "broker" specializing in trading rolled straw in Hung Tay commune (Hung Nguyen), the price of straw often increases at the end of the year. The reason is that entering winter, the weather has severe cold spells, so many localities collect straw to prevent hunger and cold for livestock in large quantities.

On the other hand, mushroom production and winter-spring crop production also increased the amount of straw needed as raw material. Meanwhile, the supply was limited because it was the "lean season"; during the harvest season, the weather was unfavorable, with heavy rain, making straw collection difficult. Compared to previous years, this year, straw prices increased sharply.

And also because the price of straw for animal feed has increased, many traders are now selling poor quality straw (moldy, straw from the base...) at lower prices. Mr. Ho Sy Dieu said: "Compared to the type of straw used for feeding buffaloes and cows, the type of straw from the base, used as substrate... is cheaper by 10,000-12,000 VND/roll. However, this type of straw is picky for livestock and can easily get sick when eaten. Therefore, farmers need to distinguish between straw for feed and raw straw, don't be greedy for cheapness and make livestock sick."

In addition, people need to proactively increase green food for buffaloes and cows with many other locally available by-products. For example, supplementing green food including elephant grass, milkweed, corn stalks; or using other by-products for silage as reserve food, reducing costs, and limiting dependence on rolled straw sources.