Tien Thanh and Ma Thanh Communes in Yen Thanh District are known as Nghe An’s Chicken Kingdom, but the cheap chicken prices have caused farmers to incur losses over the past time, forcing them to scale down their flocks or give up breeding chickens.
Pham Van Chinh in Tien Thanh Commune said his family had incurred losses of VND1 billion (USD42,962) so far this year.
Since early this year, the price of animal feed sharply increased while the price of chicken dropped dramatically. Currently, a 25kg-bag of bran costs VND360,000, an increase of 15 percent compared to last year but the current chicken prices range from VND38,000-40,000 a kg.
Chinh cannot now afford to buy bran to feed his flock of chicken and is struggling with an amount of debt.
Tran Thi Mai, a local farmer, said her 10,000-chicken farm also faces the same fate.
In addition to increasing feed costs, Mai is under pressure due to rising bank interest rates that have pushed her into difficulties.
Tien Thanh Commune is home to 50 poultry farms but most households had borrowed money from banks to invest in raising chickens.
Tran Dinh Canh, chairman of Ma Thanh Commune that is home to 40 chicken farms, said many farmers let their flocks die en masse as they no longer can feed them.
Many chicken farm owners admitted they are facing extremely difficult times as chicken prices have sharply fallen over recent years while the costs for chicken feed and medication have risen annually.
Farmers hoped animal feed production companies consider lowering prices to share the difficulties.
Local authorities have also proposed banks to consider extending principal debt payments and reduce interest for livestock households.