Egg and chicken prices drop sharply, Nghe An farmers suffer losses

Mr. Dang Xuan Tu's chicken farm (Hung Trung commune, Hung Nguyen district) has a scale of 12,000 broiler chickens. If before Tet, the price of chicken was at 55,000 VND/kg, a quite low price, causing farmers to only break even, then since January until now, the price of broiler chicken has dropped sharply, now only 45,000 VND/kg. Accordingly, in less than 1 month, the price of chicken has decreased by nearly 10,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Tu said: "12,000 chickens that are ready to be sold are facing low prices and slow consumption. On average, each chicken at the farm loses 5,000 VND, so I lost about 60 million VND from this batch of chickens."

Always maintaining a herd of tens of thousands of chickens, choosing to raise them in a biosafety direction, feeding them with herbs and calcium worms to improve the quality of chicken meat, therefore, every time they are sold, Mr. Tran Tu's chicken farm (Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district) is sought after by traders, and consumption is quite easy. However, this batch of chickens, from Tet until now, has not been able to be sold out.

Mr. Tu said: “The price of chickens at our farm is always 3-5 times higher than the market price because the chickens are delicious, clean and easy to consume. However, currently, although the price has been reduced, consumption is very slow. Each time, traders only buy 100-200 chickens.”

According to calculations by farming households, the average production cost for each kg of chicken (raising time 3.5 - 4 months) is about 52,000 - 53,000 VND. With the current selling price, chicken farming households are facing difficulties and losses.

“Chickens that have reached maturity cannot be sold, forcing farmers to continue keeping them in cages, incurring costs for feed and labor, and facing the situation of sick and dead chickens due to the weather. The longer the time to sell the flock, the heavier the loss. But they do not know how to “cut the loss” because the market from North to South is in the same situation,” said Mr. Tu.

Not only have chicken meat prices dropped, but egg prices have also "hit rock bottom" and are difficult to sell. With a scale of 17,000 laying hens, every day, Mr. Tran Van Son's family in Nghia Hung commune (Nghia Dan) collects 13,000 eggs. Before Tet, egg prices fluctuated at 2,300-2,500 VND/egg, now the price has dropped to 1,500 VND/egg. "Calculating, the farm's cost to have 1 commercial egg is 1,900 VND. With the current price, the farm loses 400 VND per egg, which means we lose over 5 million VND per day."

With a smaller scale, only 3,000 laying hens, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bon in Dien Trung commune (Dien Chau) also faced difficulties due to cheap eggs and large inventories. “Eggs are difficult to preserve, the consumption market is slow while the hens still lay regularly every day. The biggest worry is inventory, damage, and capital loss,” Ms. Bon sighed.

According to the explanation, the reason for the current decrease in egg prices is that at this time, the demand for food has decreased sharply, production for the Tet season has ended, the supply to companies, confectionery production businesses, and collective kitchens has reduced imports. In addition, the demand in the market has also decreased due to the long Tet holiday. Meanwhile, poultry still lay eggs regularly, so the amount of eggs is stagnant and the price has decreased.

Besides, the main reason is still the current situation of "supply exceeding demand" leading to prolonged sluggishness. On the other hand, the current official import as well as smuggled poultry and poultry eggs have increased sharply, pushing prices down.

“It will take some time, around April, for egg prices to stabilize and increase. At the moment, people need to balance their herds and reduce their herds. At the same time, they need to mix and make use of available feed to reduce farming costs, waiting for the market to improve,” said Mr. Dau Ngoc Hoa - Director of Dien Trung Commune Livestock Cooperative (Dien Chau).

Due to the sluggish market, difficulty in consumption, and sharp drop in prices of poultry meat and eggs, people currently do not dare to increase or restore their flocks.