Poultry farmers feel henpecked in crisis

Poultry farmers feel henpecked in crisis

By Asep Fathulrachman

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Poultry farmers are selling their chickens and closing down in droves as soaring prices of feedmeal make business no longer viable.

Knock-on effects are already being felt. The supply of chicken meat and eggs to the market is threatened, experienced by consumers in Yogyakarta and several other cities.

The price of eggs has increased from Rp 2,500 per kilogram to Rp 4,500, and chicken meat from Rp 3,500 per kilogram to Rp 10,000.

"When chicken meat in traditional markets is sold for Rp 3,500 a kilogram, we have to subsidize this at Rp 65 per chicken per day... So it is better to sell the chickens as soon as possible while the price is good," said Sunedi, a poultry farmer on Jl. Parangtritis, Yogyakarta.

He said the price of factory-produced feedmeal had increased three times since the turmoil began in July last year. The price of the protein concentrate used in the mixing went up from Rp 1,100 a kilogram eight months ago to Rp 2,900 last month.

In the same period, he said, other manufactured feedmeal like BR I and BR IV -- feedmeal for chicks and adult chickens -- also increased by 150 percent. BR I, formerly Rp 950 a kilogram, is now Rp 2,400.

"Even at the old price, our profit amounted to no more than 10 percent of the selling price of chicken eggs or chicken meat in the market," said Mohammad Zakim, a poultry farmer living in Godean, Sleman, Yogyakarta.

"With these high current prices, where is our profit in the slack market?"

Loans

The dean of the School of Animal Husbandry of Gadjah Mada University, Krishna Agung Santosa, said farmers needed help from the government through optimization of the allocation of the available credits for small enterprises (KUK).

He said it should be done immediately because, under Law No. 6/1967 on basic regulations on animal husbandry and animal health, the government is obliged to ensure the public's nutritional needs are met.

"If the farmers go bankrupt, it is feared the community will become skeptical on the implementation of the law, and, besides, it is to anticipate the scarcity of chicken meat and eggs in the future," he said.

Based on the intent of the law and in order to preserve the continuity of animal husbandry products, he said the government should be willing to sacrifice by extending subsidies to the sector in its state of collapse.

"However, if subsidies cannot be given due to lack of funds, soft loans from the KUK ceiling would also do," he said. "According to data on a number of village unit cooperatives on the impact of the long drought last year, the KUK is still available because rice farmers did not have the opportunity to make use of it."

He believed soft loans were the most efficient step as "greater funds and more time will be needed to revive them (animal husbandry farmers) if they go bankrupt".

Sole distributor of Comfeed feedmeal in Yogyakarta, Ruyono Sumowidagdo, claimed his sector was hardest hit by the dilemma.

"With the U.S. dollar at about Rp 9,000, it is hard indeed to maintain the price of animal feed because the greater part of the raw material and the manufacturing components are imported."

He said he had lost nearly all of his customers.

"Even if there are transactions, only small lots are sold. They are not sufficient to cover the company's operational costs. In the near future, we will also apparently close shop if the dollar rate does not return to its former level."

Ruyono said depletion of present stocks of chickens, freshwater fish and eggs would eventually result in scarcity of these valuable sources of protein.

Imports would be out of the question due to the expense, he added.

"Chicken meat from Thailand now costs US$1.20 a kilogram. With the freight cost added on, the selling price here could be Rp 15,000 a kilogram. The price is unaffordable for the people."

He said there would be no alternative but to maintain local animal husbandry.

It would be better for the government to focus on meeting requirements for supporting facilities for animal husbandry, especially the feedmeal sector, without a reliance on imports, he added.

"But in the emergency situation now, it would not be too much if the farmers were given a soft loan because it is not only big businessmen who need credits. Only really efficient farmers can maintain their business in the present situation.

"It is only fitting if the government comes to their rescue as soon as possible."