The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is making all-out efforts for the stable supply and demand of feed... Holding regional meetings

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Han Ju-hong = The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 5th that since last month, it has held discussions in five regions across the country to address supply and demand instability of forage (hay) due to a decrease in straw production. The discussions included forage business operators, livestock farmers, local government officials, and agricultural and livestock cooperatives, who discussed expanding spring sowing of winter forage, increasing summer forage cultivation in paddy fields, and utilizing weeds in idle land such as river areas. To increase the production of quality forage, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to strengthen winter crop cultivation education and expand government support, including increasing the unit price for silage (fermented feed crop) manufacturing costs in spring sowing and the unit price for summer forage strategic crop direct payments. To activate the circulation of domestic forage, the ministry plans to subdivide the forage quality grading system standards and increase the unit price for domestic forage utilization promotion subsidies from 10 won per kilogram to 15 won. Lee Jae-sik, the livestock policy director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We will resolve short-term supply and demand instability by utilizing available forage resources, and in the medium to long term, we will transition policies to a structure that links production, distribution, and consumption." juhong@yna.co.kr