Cattle farmers unsatisfied with sales ahead of Eid

Sales of sacrificial animals have yet to reach levels deemed satisfactory to farmers ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, raising concerns of further losses for those rearing them in Pabna and Sirajganj. 

Farmers in the greater Rajshahi region saw their sales hit almost zero during the pandemic, when cattle markets centring Eid-ul-Azha were shut to prevent the contagion from spreading.

Now, their hopes of registering good sales this year has also been thrown in doubt as higher prices for sacrificial animals are discouraging traders from making advance bookings.

Farmers say the price of sacrificial animals has increased due to substantial increases in maintenance and feed costs amidst the ongoing economic crises resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war and US dollar shortage.

Some 1 crore animals were slaughtered during Eid-ul-Azha last year against a supply of 1.21 crore.

And although the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) is yet to prepare a final tally on the number of sacrificial animals ready for sale this Eid, the fisheries and livestock ministry put the preliminary figure at 1.25 crore.

The count will be finalised at an inter-ministerial meeting on June 14, according to the DLS officials.

"I sold a minimum of 70 cows in 10 days at different cattle markets in Pabna and Sirajganj last year," said Md Alhaz Hossain, a trader of sacrificial animals in Pabna's Faridpur upazila.

Hossain then informed that traders like him had booked sacrificial animals by paying farmers their due a month in advance of the festival.

"But this year I don't dare book animals because of the high price," he added.

Hossain went on to say that the demand for small and medium sized cattle is traditionally higher than that of larger animals for being more affordable.

However, the price of even these small and medium sized cattle is higher this year and so, the cattle market centring Eid has become unstable.

At present, farmers are selling bulls weighing three to five maunds (one maund equals 37 kilogrammes) for Tk 28,000 to Tk 30,000 while bigger cattle weighing more than 5 maunds are priced at Tk 25,000 to Tk 26,000, he said.

Raju Ahmed, who owns two cattle farms in Pabna and Sirajganj, said he did not get the expected profit from big animals for the past couple of years.

"I raised 50 big animals last year with each weighing more than 10 maunds. Of these, some 40 bulls were sold for sacrifice last year," he added.

After experiencing such loss, Ahmed decided to prepare only 30 bulls this year, with 26 having already been sold off as of last week.

Md Saiful Alom, a prize-winning dairy farmer in Pabna's Faridpur upazila, said the maintenance cost of rearing cattle has gone up due to a substantial rise in feed prices.

"And although feed prices have come down over the past few weeks, I had to buy each kilogramme of solid feed for Tk 70 to Tk 80 throughout the rest of the year," he added.

Meanwhile, fattened cattle incur higher feed and other costs with farmers needing to spend about Tk 300 to Tk 400 daily on maintenance. As such, the compounded cost reaches up to Tk 1.5 lakh and so, making a profit on such animals becomes very difficult.

"So, most farmers are preparing small and medium sized animals this year," Alom said.

Md Raju, a cattle farmer of Ramkharua village in Sirajganj, said wholesale traders have yet to come to his area for buying sacrificial cattle even though Eid is just around the corner.

"We used to get advance payments for our cattle before but this year, traders are not coming because of the high prices," he added.

And although farmers and traders anticipate that sales will rise in the 10 days leading up to the festival, they have urged for stopping the import of Indian animals to ensure better prices for local cattle.

Gounaga Kumar Talukder, livestock officer of Sirajganj district, said a total of 1.71 lakh cows, 1.87 lakh goats, 60,113 lambs and 3,647 buffaloes have been prepared in Sirajganj for Eid-ul-Azha.

Similarly, Al Mamun Hossain Mondol, the livestock officer of Pabna, said some 1.74 lakh cows, 4.29 lakh goats and lambs along with 5,925 buffaloes have been prepared in the district this year.

Md Shariful Haque, deputy director of the DLS, said sufficient sacrificial animals have been prepared across the country to meet demand.