Breeding pigs in Nghe An are in short supply, prices are increasing

According to data from the Nghe An Statistics Office, by the end of January 2025, the total number of pigs is estimated to reach 1,019,228, an increase of 3.05% (+30,166 pigs) over the same period in 2024. After the sale of pigs during the Lunar New Year and the 15th day of the first lunar month, households, farms, and ranches are actively restocking to serve the market.

Due to the high demand for herd restoration, the price of gilts and piglets has also increased. Currently, the price of gilts is being sold on the market at over 10-12 million VND/head, 2-3 million VND/head higher than the low point. The price of piglets has also increased to 2.2-2.4 million VND/head (super lean 3-blood type), an increase of 800-1 million VND/head compared to the same period last year.

Piglet prices are high and pig farms are not able to supply enough pigs to the market. Many farmers say that it is currently difficult to buy piglets. Many households have even deposited money a month in advance but have not yet received piglets to restore their herds.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien in Dung town (Thanh Chuong) said: "After selling the litter of 10 pigs on Tet, the plan was to restock after the full moon. However, it is not easy to buy piglets these days. Even though I have deposited money with traders in advance, they are waiting until the end of the month to have piglets."

Unable to buy piglets from large farms with super 3-blood breeds (pigs crossbred between 3 different bloodlines), Ms. Duong Thi Nhung in Tao Son commune (Anh Son) decided to buy pigs from the people to raise. However, currently, piglets from the people are also scarce and quite expensive. "After Tet last year, it only cost 700,000 - 800,000 VND to buy pigs from the people to raise. However, this year, each pig has increased by 300,000 - 400,000 VND but there are still no pigs to buy."

Not only small-scale livestock farmers, but also large-scale farms and ranches are having difficulty buying breeding stock to restore their herds.

Mr. Le Quoc Tan - owner of a closed pig farm in Hung Nghia commune (Hung Nguyen) said: "The farm has a scale of 200 sows, both proactively providing breeding pigs for the family and supplying to the people. However, at this time, the number of breeding pigs is not enough to meet the needs of people in the area."

As a supplier of piglets in Nghe An, Mr. Ho Trong Quyet said that after selling pigs for sale during Tet and the full moon festival, households, farms and ranches are currently empty. The high price of live pigs has pushed up the demand for herd restoration. Therefore, at this time, the demand for piglets has increased dramatically. Currently, the piglet market can only meet about 60% of people's demand, mainly purchased from private breeding sow farms, and companies are also "short" of piglets.

“In previous years, after Tet, the demand for herd restoration increased but not sharply due to the stagnant price of pork and the increase in feed prices, so profits were low, even breaking even. Now that feed prices are stable, the epidemic is under control, and pork prices have skyrocketed, people are rushing to restore their herds, pushing up the price of piglets,” said Mr. Quyet.

However, according to the warning of the professional agency, the price of live pigs is high, farmers are making good profits, but the consumption market is disadvantageous, because the high price makes the consumption of the market even slower. The supply of pigs is decreasing compared to before, but this is only temporary and will soon stabilize in the near future. At present, farmers should carefully calculate in increasing and restoring the herd to avoid risks.