Unfair livestock prices; something needs to be done

ONE of the sensitive areas of livestock production is marketing. This is an area which has always left farmers feeling helpless and nearly hapless as they completely have no control whatsoever in the pricing models and pricing regimes.

While farmers can easily decide on what type of livestock to produce and even what kind of breeds they can rear, they have no say on when it comes to the price.

This is more evident in other forms of livestock than it is in others. While it is an accepted truism that agricultural products fluctuate in prices as dictated by the laws of supply and demand, the fluctuation seems to have more effect in livestock and most importantly in cattle. Poultry and small stock do not quite suffer in price variations as cattle do. Cattle prices have a painful variation which seems to disobey general trends at times and this leaves farmers and all those with an interest in cattle rearing with endless questions. Farmers always ask whether the price trend in beef production is really a result of supply and demand laws or it’s a manifestation of an evil hand controlling things from behind the scenes.

This is more pertinent this year than perhaps the preceding years. The drop in prices of beef by the buyers especially the abattoirs and butchery operators is simply phenomenal and not in congruence with the general trends of previous years.

Right now as we speak, the prices have remained subdued and have not risen to the expected levels of this period of the year. The prices are actually dropping when most farmers are impatiently waiting for them to pick. During last year for example, the price of beef at the abattoirs around the same period was already around $3,50 for choice and commercial but this year the price is sitting at less than $2,90 for both choice and commercial grades.

It always boggles my mind why the two grades are always given the same price while all other grades are given different prices? It is pretty basic that the simple reason of differentiating grades is to accord different status to the respective grades but as it stands right now there is absolutely no benefit to the farmer for his/her animal to attain the choice grade as it is inconsequential when it comes to the price to be offered. What therefore is the point of having these two grades when they always attract the same price, why not abolish the other grade?

Going back to the issue of beef prices, while many farmers appreciate the seasonality of prices they remain unconvinced that these are purely governed by market forces as they should.

In Bulawayo and surrounding areas, for example the price seems to be controlled by one or two abattoir operators.

This is the guy who simply decides that he is feeling moody today and is not happy with his bank balance and therefore prices must go down! Sadly for consumers who are at the end of the value chain, these changes are never felt. Have you ever walked into a butchery and you are told that we have dropped our prices because this is February the month of lowest prices in beef, never! Why is it that prices just drop at the abattoirs (for the farmers) and never at the butchery for the consumers?

I have said it before on this very platform and I will say it now, Government needs to come in through activating its relevant controlling bodies and institutions such as Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) so that they begin to effectively discharge their mandate or else farmers will always be mauled by the merciless wolves in this industry who control a lot of people’s livelihoods.

As a starting point for example Government may need to set minimum bench marks below which beef prices cannot be allowed to drop. Something simply needs to be done. It is completely unfair for Government to let farmers be at the mercy of ruthless private buyers and abattoir operators. The ground needs a bit of levelling so that farmers are not reaped off their valued investment right under the not so watchful eyes of relevant officials.