A member of the Poultry Farmers’ Association in the Western Region, Nana Saah, has welcomed the idea by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture MOFA to distribute day-old chicks to poultry farmers to increase production in the sector but if maize, wheat, and soya beans continue to soar it defeat the purpose.
Speaking on Plan B FM morning show NKOSUONSEM hosted by Nana Yaw Abrompah, Nana Saah explained that soya beans, maize, and wheat contribute to the majority of what is used to prepare feed for chickens now, but said farmers don’t have enough soya beans to feed chickens at the same time the price of maize and wheat is on the rise and we can’t break even.
He said about 80% of poultry farms have collapsed due to the high price of poultry feeds maize and soya beans. Because of this, farmers are being forced to sell birds earlier than the 70 to 90-week range, he said.
“Now farmers are selling their birds at as early as 25 weeks and 30 weeks because they can’t get the feed to feed them,” he said.
“With all these increments, we can’t sell our eggs to meet costs, so farmers are being forced to sell their birds when they are not supposed to and that is causing the industry to collapse.”
According to him, the poultry industry needs a steady supply of soya beans and maize.
“The birds eat so much that we should have a chunk of soya bean and maize in the system so that we can use it to feed our birds.”
“if soya bean, maize, and wheat are cheap and available to feed the birds, their feces mixed with the leftover feeds can be used as organic fertilizer or manure for crop production which is more economical and harmless on the lands and human health”
Discussion about this post