According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang Province, the total buffalo herd in the province is now 90,300 head, down 2% from the same period last year.

The reason for this decline is that the price of commercial buffalo has been low lately, many breeding households have suffered heavy losses and therefore have not invested in further rearing. Meanwhile, market demand has shown no signs of improvement.

In the large cattle herding areas of many households in Chiem Hoa District, the total number of buffalo herds has declined significantly. Because the farmers realize that raising buffalo is very difficult to sell in the market at present.

Currently, the entire district has 23,310 buffalo, only meeting 83% of the plan to maintain and increase the herd in 2022. Many communities regularly maintain a total herd of over 1,000 such as Hoa Phu, Tan An, Ha Lang, Hung My, etc. also fell sharply.

Mr. Hoang Van Ha’s family from Dau Cau Village, Nhan Ly Township, Chiem Hoa District has been raising buffalo and cows since 2017 and earning a fairly good and stable income.

In order to ensure a source of fodder for his cattle, in addition to taking natural grass in the forest, he planted 1 ha of elephant grass as the main source of fodder for the cattle. In recent months, buffalo have been difficult to sell at low prices, so he almost stopped tending the buffalo herd and switched to raising cows.

Mr. Luong Hai Tuyen, director of Hung My Cattle Breeding Cooperative, Chiem Hoa District, said the members currently own 50 cattle. In 2022, the relatively low market price for commercial buffalo has affected farmers.

However, if they sell early, farmers will lose money, so farmers try to keep them up. Some households have switched from fattening buffalo to breeding to ensure herd development and economic stability.

A common fact for buffalo-raising households in Tuyen Quang is that most of them are low-capital households. In order to buy buffalo for economic development, farmers here had to borrow money from banks.

However, when the economy is tough, especially households that borrow livestock capital to maturity, the bank has to sell it to pay off the debt. Compared to the initial capital spent on the purchase, the current selling price of buffalo is only equal or even lower, which causes difficulties for many households.

Mr. Cao Van Tung’s family, Thanh Son Village, Hop Hoa Township, Son Duong District, currently has 5 buffaloes that have reached the slaughter stage but cannot be sold because the dealers are paying too low prices. The buffalo was almost 2 years old and was priced at 15-20 million VND, now traders are paying around 10 million VND.

Mr. Tung said the price paid for buffalo was too low, making it difficult for him and many households in the village. However, Mr. Tung is trying to wait for the market near Lunar New Year to see if things get better. Because if it is sold at this time, it is almost not profitable, not to mention wages, to take care of cattle for more than 1 year.

One of the main reasons for the low buffalo price in recent years is that it is difficult to trade through China, while the domestic consumption is not much, because the Vietnamese food rations do not use the demand for buffalo meat much.

In order to maintain a stable herd, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang Province recommends that households do well in livestock care, vaccination and health protection, try to listen to the market and avoid massive sales.

Because the buffalo feed cost is not too high, only by-products such as straw, rice straw, sugar cane leaves, corn leaves. In addition, the buffalo can still use its tractive power to serve agricultural production. The Agricultural and Rural Development Sector of Tuyen Quang Province is also promoting the search for markets to link the consumption of buffalo meat products for farmers.