For more than a year, the price of animal feed has increased 10 times in a row and is rising further.

Experts have pointed out that the distribution of benefits in the livestock production chain has become unreasonable. Farmers who make products only earn a modest profit, while most of the money goes to merchants’ pockets.

Husbandry companies are being squeezed on two fronts, with prices for poultry and cattle stagnating and falling in some cases while animal feed material prices have been surging, pushing many to halt production or even declare bankruptcy.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a plan to develop the livestock sector for the 2021-2030 period with a view to 2045.

The outlook for Vietnam's livestock market was bright over the next ten years as the population grows to nearly 107 million with an average income of US$10,000, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong.

The livestock and related sectors’ exports were worth US$855.4 million in the first nine months of the year and is expected to reach $1.2 billion for the year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

VietNamNet Bridge - Analysts estimate that foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) now hold 80 percent of the animal feed market share, while Vietnamese enterprises only have 20 percent.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese livestock companies believe that foreign-invested enterprises are involved in the current pork price escalation, and that “the livestock industry may fall into foreigners’ hands just in one or two years”.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese livestock farmers are under pressure as their products are uncompetitive in comparison with surprisingly cheap poultry and animal meat imports.

More than 3 million tons of meat were consumed in Vietnam in 2016, according to Euromonitor. With a value of $18 billion, Vietnam is the third largest market for meat in Asia, behind China and India.

VietNamNet Bridge - The average price for imported pork is now $1.2 per kilo, or VND27,000, while the domestic pork price has dropped dramatically to a 30-year low.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat urged localities to control the use of prohibited substances in livestock breeding and suggested stricter punishments for violations.

Concentrated animal feed operations (CAFO) are better equipped than household-run livestock farms, but many of them lack waste management systems, causing serious pollution in rural areas.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The overlapping fees in the poultry industry have increased the cost of production and circulation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – In the last months of the year, Vietnam’s imports of meat have soared.Despite import taxes, many kinds of imported meat are cheaper than domestic products.

 A new study suggests that the production of beef is around 10 times more damaging to the environment than any other form of livestock.

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