Message to Egg-Laying Chicken Farmers: Do Not Mortgage Your Land Certificates

A gloomy fate is looming over egg-laying chicken farmers. The price of hen eggs is currently falling drastically, reaching around Rp 20,000 per kilogram at the farm level. By comparison, at the consumer level, egg prices range from Rp 26,000 to Rp 27,000 per kg in traditional markets. The decline is caused by an oversupply that is not matched by consumer purchasing power and weak market absorption. The high level of egg production is said not to be matched by adequate market absorption. Chairman of the National Layer Poultry Farmers Association (PLN), Ki Musbar Mesdi, revealed that the slump in layer-egg prices is caused by a very significant increase in their population. “Egg prices have indeed been depressed for about a month, below the production cost, especially in Blitar Regency and its surroundings in East Java Province, which is the largest layer-poultry hub in Indonesia,” he added. Egg prices at the farming level, according to Musbar, have far deviated below the price parameters set by the government through National Food Agency Regulation Number 06 of 2024. Amid the price plunge and growing economic losses, many layer-poultry farmers have reportedly had to mortgage their land certificates to obtain bank loans. He said that in difficult times like now, farmers do not need to mortgage land certificates to keep their farming businesses running. Taking out bank loans in such tough conditions will expose farmers to a risk of default. “Because if they mortgage land certificates to obtain business credit to survive, then in this global crisis, credit will burden their production costs,” Musbar said. He added that to help farmers endure, rather than mortgaging land certificates, he recommends early culling. “Farmers are already experienced; they learned from the 1998 crisis. If they cannot survive, they should cull the production birds and re-enter with DOC layer chicks,” he explained.