Armenia: Lack of feed means loss of livestock

According to the head of the Agrarian-Peasant Union Hrachya Berberian, this will lead to a reduction of meat and milk production in the country by 2013. Hrachya Berberian said that the farmers were able to stock up on hay, which could be mixed into feed but could not serve as a base ingredient.

However, the volume of forage grain harvested this year coinciding with a very dry summer, will clearly not be enough. “I talked to one farmer, and he said that out of the eight cows he had, 4 had to be culled due to not enough forage to fed them”.

According to forecasts of the Russian analysts,  Armenia has a limited ability to import the necessary feed resources, the number of livestock in the country could be reduced by 15-20% compared to the current level of stock.

If this happens, it will be a heavy blow to the country’s livestock industry, and would take several years for Armenia to recover. The experts also predict a rise in the price of meat and dairy products in the Armenian market.

In particular, there is a high probability that livestock farms will raise the purchase price for milk, which at the present is in the range 9-110 dram (US$ 0.22 – 0.27) per litre. The process of the rise in prices could begin in November, when cattle leave the pastures and move to dry feed. So it is possible that the purchase price of milk will rise to 150-180 drams (US$ 0.36-0.44).