Egg breeders in Indonesia fated with soaring animal feed prices ahead of fasting month

Reporter: Vina Anggita | Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. One month before Ramadan, the price of chicken eggs tends to fall due to the low purchasing power of the people. This condition makes farmers lose money due to the abundant supply of unsold chicken eggs. Not only haunted by falling egg prices, breeders also have to bear losses due to rising chicken feed prices at the same time. Based on data from the National Layer Breeders Association, chicken feed contributes 68.7% of the Cost of Goods Sold (HPP) of chicken eggs which is set at IDR 19,500 per kilogram (kg). Chairman of the National Layer Breeder Association, Musbar Mesdi, explained that the increase in chicken feed prices was mainly due to the increase in the price of raw materials for animal feed such as local corn, soybean meal (SBM) and bone meat meal (MBM). He assessed, if the price of chicken eggs does not improve, he predicts there will be a spike in chicken export production at the end of ...