Grain-free culprits: laying hens are being massively destroyed in the regions
Farmers in the regions are massively destroying laying hens due to falling egg prices and lower business profitability. Representatives of the industry told Izvestia about this, claiming serious losses. In the Krasnodar Territory, one of the poultry farms simply stopped feeding birds, in Udmurtia, about 3 thousand live laying hens were thrown onto the street. The Ministry of Agriculture is preparing measures to correct the price situation, including the establishment of a fixed cost of eggs, while the agency is not aware of the facts of the reduction in livestock. What this means for the industry and how animal rights activists view it is in the Izvestia article.
Reducing the number of laying hens
In Russia, they began to get rid of chickens: two high-profile cases have occurred since the beginning of July in Udmurtia and the Krasnodar Territory. In the first region, 3,000 laying hens were thrown onto the street. According to local media, unknown persons unloaded a truck with chickens on the territory of the so-called farm, where there are no poultry facilities or fences. The laying hens scattered throughout the nearest settlement and began to starve to death.
In the Krasnodar Territory, a scandal occurred at the Novomyshastovskaya poultry farm, where about 150 thousand chickens were on the verge of death due to lack of feed. The reason for this was the company's debts and the seizure of assets at the request of the feed mill. According to media reports, this has paralyzed the purchase of feed and the payment of salaries to employees. As a result, the laying hens began to eat each other, which led to the death of a number of pets. Although the problems at the poultry farm began several years ago, it continues to operate. According to SPARK-Interfax, its revenue from sales last year was 445 million rubles, and its net profit was 7.9 million rubles.
Currently, the company, according to the Federal Resource, is put up for sale with an initial price of 280 million rubles.
The People's Farmer Association confirmed that producers are forced to reduce the number of chickens due to a serious decrease in profitability.
— The price drop began before Easter, but the sharpest decline occurred in late May and early June. In June, the wholesale cost of eggs of the first category was about 2 rubles per piece (this is a large wholesale, unpackaged product). Now the price has recovered a little and is about 3.5 rubles. At the same time, the cost of producing one egg is in the range of 4-5 rubles, depending on the region and the scale of the enterprise. Thus, manufacturers are incurring serious losses," Ksenia Sumkova, deputy chairman of the association in Chuvashia, told Izvestia.
According to her, since eggs are a seasonal product, a decrease in prices in the spring and summer period was observed almost annually, but such a significant drop below cost occurred a long time ago.
— In such conditions, some producers are forced to make difficult decisions and reduce the number of birds. It is impossible to work at a loss for several months in a row, especially if the company does not have long-term feed stocks. The situation is really difficult, one might say difficult," said Ksenia Sumkova.
This year, the seasonal decline in prices was overlaid by a significant increase in production volumes — in the first half of the year, the increase amounted to more than 1 billion units, said Galina Bobyleva, General Director of the Russian Poultry Union (Rospticesoyuz).
— Due to the noticeable increase in supply, a temporary imbalance has developed in the market and manufacturers are forced to sell products at cost or even lower. At the same time, the union expects that the situation will level off with the beginning of autumn," the industry representative explained.
According to her, in order to regulate supply and demand, it is necessary to introduce a system of long-term fixed-price contracts between manufacturers and networks. At the same time, she noted that such contracts are now concluded mainly with large manufacturers.
— It is necessary to extend this practice to medium-sized and small enterprises and develop a legislative framework governing the terms of contractual relations. Our proposal was heard and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture," said Galina Bobyleva.
To date, there are three factors influencing the reduction in the cost of eggs, said Elena Lazarenko, CEO of Tavros Group of Companies (the company took the fourth place in Russia in egg production in 2024).
— Firstly, the resumption of production at poultry farms that had previously stopped working due to avian flu. Secondly, enterprises began to invest more in reconstruction and refurbishment. Well, the third factor is seasonality. In the summer, the productivity of laying hens in private subsidiary farms, which account for 20% of egg production in the country, doubles," she explained.
According to her, the price situation will stabilize by November.
— Producers have started the process of updating the laying hen population a little earlier this year. Globally, this does not affect profitability in any way," Elena Lazarenko added, noting that she was unaware of the reduction in the number of laying hens.
Izvestia has sent requests to other major Russian poultry farms asking them to comment on the market situation.
"Today, agricultural animals are the most vulnerable compared to domestic ones, for example, cats, and unfortunately they are often treated like some kind of garbage," animal rights activist Kirill Goryachev told Izvestia.
According to him, a federal concept on responsible treatment of animals is currently being prepared.
— This is due to the fact that the concept of responsible attitude to animals was introduced into the Constitution and the government has responsibilities to form such an attitude at the state level. Now the new standards are being prepared jointly with the Public Chamber, which prescribes, among other things, the attitude towards agricultural animals," the expert explained.
According to him, the examples from the Krasnodar Territory and Udmurtia show that businesses behave this way because they feel their impunity.
What measures are being taken to remedy the situation
The press service of the Ministry of Agriculture told Izvestia that there was no information about a reduction in poultry numbers in agricultural organizations. However, they noted that they recognize the reduction in egg prices and are preparing a number of measures in this regard.
— The production of chicken eggs in Russia continues to grow: in January – May 2025, agricultural organizations produced 16.5 billion eggs, which is 6.1% more than in the same period of 2024. The price dynamics are influenced by both the growth in volumes and the seasonal factor of the traditional summer reduction in the cost of eggs," the ministry explained.
At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture considers it important that the cost remains balanced, taking into account the interests of consumers and producers of products. Profitability of production is a key condition for the sustainable development of the industry, the ministry stressed.
— One of the effective solutions to maintain a stable price level is to expand the practice of long-term contracts with a fixed price formula. This will reduce the risks of fluctuations in value for both manufacturers and retail chains. At the same time, compliance with the terms of such contracts should be regulated by law," the press service stressed.
The relevant proposals from industry representatives are already being worked out in the Ministry of Agriculture, the department said.
"In addition, a set of support measures is in place to ensure the profitability of poultry enterprises: preferential revolving and investment loans, as well as direct subsidies at the federal and regional levels," the ministry added.
Stanislav Sankeev, Executive Director of the People's Farmer Association, in turn, noted that the association had begun systematic pricing work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
— We regularly hold meetings with colleagues from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and ACORT. Our goal is to achieve transparent, fair and stable pricing of agricultural products when they are sold in networks to eliminate cases of purchasing products from farmers at prices below cost and other distortions," said a business representative.
Earlier, representatives of farming organizations told Izvestia that the trade was not ready to conclude long-term contracts. An industry source said that retail chains do not support the price-fixing measure, as this will not give them the opportunity to change the cost of purchasing eggs from producers in the event of market price fluctuations.
Izvestia sent a request to the Association of Retail Trade Companies with a request to comment on trade support for these measures.
— Worldwide, retail chains conclude long-term annual contracts for a fixed price of goods with a fork of plus or minus 10%. That is, if the cost is higher or lower, then it will be possible to increase or decrease it by this percentage at most. In this case, farmers always have a minimum profit on which they can develop. But we do not have such a strict policy regarding retail chains," Sergei Lisovsky, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, explained to Izvestia.
According to him, such a measure should be applied not only to eggs, but also to other groups of goods, including vegetables. In addition, he believes that the Ministry of Agriculture needs to make forecasts so that producers understand how to develop further and plan their production. This practice is widely used all over the world, the parliamentarian noted.
According to Georgy Ostapkovich, research director of the HSE Center for Economic Research and Economic Analysis, retail chains do not support the introduction of long-term contracts due to high inflation. According to him, they could do this only in case of financial stabilization, and when there is turbulence in the economy, it is not profitable for trade.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
