June 20, 2022

Higher feed prices force Iranian cattle breeders to sell cows at lower prices

A sixfold rise in animal feed prices in Iran has brought about a wave of bankruptcies among cattle breeders, forcing them to sell starving cows at lower prices to slaughterhouses.

According to a report by Shargh Daily on June 19, there are long queues of cattle at slaughterhouses as supply is high, with demand low due to the dire economic situation in Iran.

The chairman of the Livestock Supply Council, Mansour Purian, said the livestock have become weak and lost much weight, adding that such cheap cattle have many customers in the Arab countries.

Meanwhile, low purchasing power by Iranians has drastically reduced the demand for meat by as much as 50% in the past year, which has caused many small farmers to be eliminated from the supply chain.

Criticising the government's decision to increase livestock feed prices, Nasser Ostad-Ahmadi, the managing director of one of Iran's largest farmers' cooperatives, told the daily that "in the history of Iranian animal husbandry… it had never been seen that the government increases the price of a commodity sixfold overnight."

Soybean meal, barley and corn for livestock and chicken feed are mainly imported from Russia and other countries.

Any shortages or higher prices can push up the price of meat further.

- Iran International