RadarBali reports that the price of eggs has recently plummeted to the point where farmers producing eggs are beginning to find it increasingly non-viable to sell their products.
Making the farmers’ situation problematic is that declining egg prices are happening when the cost of chicken feed is on the increase.
I Nyoman Sumadi, who operates egg-producer UD Prapta in Nyuh Tebel in Karangasem, East Bali, complained the economic pressure on egg farmers has become acute during the last three weeks of January 2021.
Sumadi explained that he can only sell a kilogram of eggs for Rp. 16,000 when the total cost of producing a kilogram of eggs is Rp. 18,000. This disparity results in a loss of Rp. 2,000 for every kilogram of eggs sold.
If he ships his eggs to Java, he can obtain there what remains a loss-making price of Rp. 17,200 per kilogram.
While Sumadi says fluctuations in the selling price of eggs is commonplace, but the current situation, when a price decrease happens in combination with raising feed prices, is rare.
The price for feed for chickens used for egg production containing corn has risen from Rp. 4,000 to Rp. 4,300 per kilogram. Many egg producers add soy to the feed mix, but imported soy prices have also increased. The cost of a mixture of corn and soy has risen from Rp. 6,000 per kilogram to the current price of Rp. 6,200.
Sumadi, who is also a member of the Karangasem House of Representatives (DPRD-Karangasem), admits there’s little that egg farmers in the current situation can do. Adding: “If the selling price of eggs decreases, that is not necessarily a problem. This is commonplace. But the current situation is exacerbated by rising feed prices.”
Sumadi produces 19,500 eggs each day from some 30,000 hens. This equates roughly to 3.5 tons of eggs.
Sumadi says all he and other farmers can do is hang on and wait for the current market condition to improve.
The legislator and egg farmer said he hopes the government will make a policy extending presidential aid to purchase eggs for unemployed workers or, at least, compel unemployed workers receiving support to spend some of their assistance on eggs. He says such a policy will allow the public to enjoy eggs for breakfast, increase consumption, and eventually normalize eggs’ price.