Cattle prices drop sharply, breeders suffer losses, traders face difficulties

Buffalo and cow prices "hit rock bottom"

At its peak, Mr. Ho Sy Dieu's farm (Nghia Tien commune, Thai Hoa town) raised 1,500 dairy bulls for meat, a few dozen buffaloes, and a few dozen crossbred-sind cows. However, in the past two years, when the price of buffaloes and cows dropped, he gradually reduced the scale; previously he had about 1,500 cows, now he only dares to raise about 600, and has completely stopped raising buffaloes and crossbred-sind cows.

Mr. Ho Sy Dieu said: “Normally, the price of cows is up to 11-12 million VND/quintal, the price of dairy bulls is 9 million VND/quintal; last year, it decreased by about 30% to 7-8 million VND/quintal and now it is only 5-5.5 million VND/quintal. The price of buffalo meat has also decreased sharply, by August 2023, the price of live buffalo is only 55-60 thousand VND/kg depending on the quality and origin of the buffalo. The price of buffalo and cows has dropped dramatically, while input costs have increased, so buffalo and cow farms are all suffering heavy losses.”

Having been raising fattening cattle for over 20 years, Mr. Nguyen Cong Trung in Lat town (Tan Ky) has never experienced such a difficult period as the past 2 years. In addition to low cattle prices and increasing animal feed prices, finding a market for beef cattle is not easy.

“In the past, when it was time to sell 60 beef cows, we just had to call the traders, they would come and pick them up and pay us cash. But last year and now, the price of beef has “hit rock bottom” and is only half of what it was before, and consumption is also difficult. During the recent drought, green food was scarce, silage was also running out, and the cows were overweight, but no traders came to buy them. In the end, the family had to slaughter some of them and sell them to the market,” said Mr. Trung.

Not only Mr. Trung's family, but nearly 20 households raising foreign-bred buffalo and cows on a large-scale farm, along with more than 100 cattle farms in the mountainous district of Tan Ky, are now also restless, as the price of buffalo and cows has hit rock bottom and is difficult to sell.

Buffalo and cattle traders face difficulties

The decrease in cattle prices has not only caused losses for cattle breeders but also caused difficulties for cattle traders in Dai Son, Tru Son, Hien Son (Do Luong) and some localities in Tan Ky. For more than a year now, the "working" atmosphere of households specializing in long-term cattle trading in Hamlet 1, Dai Son Commune (Do Luong) is no longer as bustling as before.

“Three years ago, the price of cattle was high, and trading was favorable. But for more than a year now, the price of cattle has decreased but it is difficult to sell, so traders like us have encountered many difficulties. And the same goes for those who transport cattle, the number of trucks carrying “goods” to all localities in the country, and exporting to Laos and China has also decreased sharply,” said Mr. Le Van Nga, Hamlet 1, Dai Son Commune.

Citing further evidence of this, Mr. Nga said: “Normally, in Dai Son, there are always long lines of trucks carrying cattle coming and going day and night, especially on days close to the U market. But now, the number of trucks going in and out of the cattle trading hubs has decreased by about half. In Hamlet 1, Dai Son Commune, households trading cattle all have 1 to 2, or even 3 trucks carrying cattle running regularly. Every day, a truck carries about 60 cattle to import from provinces from Ha Tinh to Phu Yen, even to Laos and China through border gates, regularly 5-8 trips per month. But now the number of shipments has decreased to only half.”

Mr. Le Tran, a trader specializing in trading buffalo and cows between Nghe An and Phu Yen and the southern provinces, said that for more than half a year now, the price of buffalo and cows has dropped sharply, so people in the profession like him are operating at a low level. “Previously, I ran about 6 trips a month to trade buffalo and cows from Nghe An to Phu Yen and vice versa, and the trucks were always full of goods, with each truck carrying about 55-60 cows. Now that the price of buffalo and cows has dropped and there are no goods, I only run 2-3 trips a month, and the capital is shared by 7-8 people (instead of 1-2 people like before), so we can help each other contribute capital to sustain the business.”

Explaining the reason for the sharp and prolonged decline in cattle prices with no signs of increasing, Mr. Le Tran said: “In addition to the reason that China has not imported cattle or cattle meat for a long time, recently, a large amount of cattle from Thailand has flooded the Vietnamese market at lower prices, causing domestic traders to suffer losses. Currently, cattle of Thai origin in the Vietnamese market cost only about 48-50 thousand VND/kg, sometimes nearly ten times lower than the price of domestic cattle.”

Due to the sharp decline in the cattle market, traders have reduced the number of purchases for a long time, so people are not interested in investing in cattle farming. People have reduced their herds sharply or "hung their barns" waiting for the market to recover, some households have switched to other livestock.

“Compared to other livestock, raising buffalo and cows requires a large amount of capital. A breeding cow costs from 35 to 40 million VND. If raising on a large scale, it is necessary to invest in a system of barns, pastures, etc., which can cost up to a billion VND. Therefore, buffalo and cow breeders in the province hope that the State will have a mechanism to limit beef imports and strictly control the smuggling of meat through unofficial channels to protect domestic livestock farming.

At the same time, there needs to be a mechanism to support interest rates at banks for people borrowing capital to invest in livestock farming to overcome difficulties. In addition, there needs to be a clear direction and provide market information to livestock farmers," said Mr. Ho Sy Dieu, a farm owner in Nghia Tien commune, Thai Hoa town.