Reporter's investigation: Why did the price of eggs drop for eight consecutive weeks?

According to the monitoring information of the Ministry of Commerce, as of February 26, 2012, the retail price of eggs has been falling for eight weeks in a row. The price of eggs in many provinces and cities fell below 4 yuan and returned to the “3 yuan” era.

Why do egg prices "straight down"? The sharp rise and fall in egg prices has become a common pain for farmers, consumers and the government. For the government, the cyclical ups and downs of laying hens, on the one hand, are on the verge of hurting the farmers, while on the other hand the eggs are expensive and injurious. How to achieve a sustainable and stable development of laying hens?

In this regard, people of insight spontaneously hit the soft underbelly of China's laying hens: "The apparent cause of the sharp drop in egg prices is the increase in population. The basic reason is that farmers have too much loose and excessively small scale, and the stable breeding of laying hens has continued. The only road to development is scale."

Our reporter Yu Hongguang dropped egg prices from Wangshi to the lowest in three years in the Changqing District of Jinan City. The price of eggs in the farmers’ market was 3.2 yuan per catty. The chicken egg price at the chicken farm was 3 yuan per catty, which was lower than a month ago. 1.6 yuan, a drop of more than 30%, has become the lowest price point in recent years. According to the Shandong Animal Husbandry and Information Center's targeted monitoring of 25 bazaars in the province, the average price of eggs in the near future was 8.01 yuan per kg, down 14.51% year-on-year and 4.42% month-on-month.

Liaocheng Dongchangfu Dong Fucun chicken farmer Wang Jinghua looked sad: "Don't ask, this layer can not be raised, lost more than 200 yuan a day, it can not hold it! Full price feed a pound of 1.1 yuan last year, is now 1.2 Yuan; bean curd 1.7 yuan, still not pure. Quotes are no longer good, I put this 3600 chicken price processing!"

Wang Jinghua’s husband took a basketful of eggs and put it on the ground. It was rather helpless. “Every day we produce 300 pounds of eggs. Nobody wants! We have to be at home! Now it's cold, and we can let it go. When it's warm, it’s troublesome.” Wang Jinghua said with a wry smile. “Lastly circled the phone and sold eggs yesterday. They all said that they had cut prices, but they did not dare to. When they sent them to the door, 3 yuan per catty was not enough for feed costs, not to mention the cost of labor, water and electricity, and epidemic prevention. I had been raising chicken for 15 years, and half of the market had not caught up. , Similar to gambling, when they were not allowed to enter, they were bailed in; these chickens were raised in April last year and did not expect to encounter such a market during the peak period of egg production. By the second half of the year, the market may be better, but I The batch of chickens should also be eliminated."

In Zhuanglou Village, Changqing District, which has been engaged in laying hens for more than 10 years, professional Zhuang Qingbo has calculated: The feed price is basically the same as before the Spring Festival. The price of corn is 1.1 yuan per kilogram. Every chicken eats 221⁄2 feeds every day. Calculated at RMB 1.2, the feed cost is about RMB 0.3. With water, electricity, labor, etc., the cost per catty is about RMB 3.5. If the price is lower than this price, it will be lost. Now the egg wholesale price is RMB 3 per catty. To lose 0.5 yuan.

Like Wang Jinghua and Zhuang Qingbo, most egg breeders in Shandong are experiencing “winter”. Dong Fucun, who was involved in chick hatchery, Ma Zhenchen had just returned from the inspection market in Dezhou. He said that the wholesale price of eggs in Texas was as low as 2.7 yuan to 2.8 yuan per catty; Shandong Animal Husbandry Network showed that the prices of eggs around the country were similar.

Egg prices have recently been difficult to get out of the trough in Ma Zhenchen's hatchery. The incubator has buzzed and the newly hatched yellow chicks are furry and cry. Ma Zhenchen introduced that his chickens were supplied to Shandong, Henan, Jilin and other places. In the past year, 2 million chickens were hatched, an increase of 1 million birds compared with 2010, and 3.8 yuan per chicken hens. Only one year since this year, only hatching. Less than 100,000 feathers, the highest price of chickens only 2.8 yuan per feather, a low of 2.2 yuan. He had been engaged in hatching chickens for 17 years and found out a rule: When chicken farmers rush into chickens, the price of eggs dropped in 5 or 6 months; when chicken farmers dealt with laying hens, they had a period of time. Egg prices will rebound in time, and egg prices are now at a cyclical low.

Ma Zhenchen analyzed that 2011 was a good year for raising chickens. Due to the epidemic at the end of 2009, the population of laying hens decreased; from the second half of 2010, egg prices gradually increased and reached a peak in August 2011. Liaocheng egg prices, the highest when more than 5 yuan a pound. The chicken farmer feeds chicken in the morning and counts money at night. Many farmers have seen profitable progress and have entered the ranks of laying hens. A large number of idle funds have also been invested in raising chickens. Some have made hundreds of thousands or even more. At the same time, laying hens have reached their peak. In addition, no major outbreaks have occurred in recent months, and large quantities of laying hens have just entered the peak of laying eggs. This has caused the oversupply of eggs and the price drop is expected.

However, Yang Chihu Zhuang Qingbo is not worried about the market outlook. He said that after the holiday season, the number of eggs used by the public will increase. With the start of school and start of work, the market demand will expand and the price of eggs will be stable. It should not drop.

Experts in the industry believe that the recent drop in egg prices is mainly due to the impact of weak consumption after the Spring Festival. Eggs in production areas and sales areas are slow to take delivery of eggs, and egg prices are weak. Over time, egg consumption will be more, but for The situation that exceeds demand is difficult to reverse in the short term, and egg prices are rising weakly and with poor stability. It is expected that the weak shock will be the main trend in the near future; currently farmers have suffered serious losses, and there is limited room for further decline in egg prices.

How can a steady exit of egg prices prevent the price of egg from soaring and falling, and promote the stable breeding of laying hens?

Hou Guosheng of the Dongchang Prefecture Bureau of Animal Husbandry believes that the threshold for raising chickens is very low. Farmers have a bit of money and they can raise them in a chicken house. When the price is high, they are swept up and the price is low. They form a vicious circle. Retail households are unable to standardize in epidemic prevention, hygiene and feed. Large-scale farms have strong anti-risk capabilities and are crucial to stabilizing market prices. In the United States, there are 200 million laying hens in stock and are owned by 99 farming companies. It is suggested that the government should encourage large-scale layer chicken breeding and actively provide financial support.

Zhuang Qingbo said that the country has certain supportive policies for raising pigs and raising cows. However, layer chickens as a rich family farming industry, the country lacks supporting policies for layer chicken breeding industry, and the breeding risks are all in the chicken breeding households. It is recommended that the state should study and formulate support for laying hen breeding, breeding, and epidemic prevention, especially for layer chickens. Scaled farming policy measures.

Ma Zhenchen said: “We must identify the rules for feeding chickens and slaughter hens. When egg prices rise all the way and everyone vies for chickens, it is the beginning of losing eggs and raising chickens. The price of eggs is at its peak. In order to make emergency brakes, timely release of laying hens and eggs; when the egg price reaches a low point, it is necessary to enter chickens in a timely manner and to make deposits. In accordance with this law, laying hens basically wins."

At present, layer chickens are mostly farmed and scattered, and it is very difficult for farmers to accurately predict market changes, unable to grasp market information in a timely manner, and can only chase and sell into the market during the ups and downs. To this end, people in the industry suggest that government departments should improve the information release system for agricultural products, give play to the role of governments, agencies, and leading enterprises, conduct forward-looking analysis of market trends, provide market households with expected information, and guide farmers to adjust their aquaculture according to market changes. .