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Cattle Farmers Starting to Fail on Credit
Jember - Members of the cattle farmer group in Grenden village, Puger subdistrict and Muneng village, Gukumas subdistrict in Jember, East Java, are severely affected by the fall in cattle price in the last two years. They are threatened by bankruptcy and worried they will not be able to pay the food and energy security credit (KKPE) received from the government 2 years ago.
They are facing difficulties to even just pay the interest; paying back the main credit is almost impossible. Agus Cahyono, chairman of Barokah cattle farmer group in Grenden village on Wednesday (23/3/11) said cattle price is still sinking, making it more difficult for farmers to gain profit.
Two years ago calves are sold at Rp 2.5 million per head and after 4 months could be resold at Rp 5 million to Rp 7 million. Now, adult cattle which before could be sold for Rp 12 million is only bought at Rp 7 million.
“Things aren’t what they used to be; just achieving break even is already good now. We can’t expect much from growing beef cattle,” said Kokok, member of Barokah farmer group in Grenden village. The price of [local] cattle had fallen after the government allowed cattle import.
Gatot P. Setiawan, a farmer in Muneng village added that the poor price has severely injured farmers. The odd thing is that beef price has never followed down.
As an effort to improve the welfare of farmers, the government has established a food and energy security credit program. Farmer groups are given a credit of Rp 300 million.
Barokah cattle farmer group in Grenden village has 35 members and over 8,000 cattle, while the farmer group in Muneng village has over 12,000 cattle. Some of the farmers take care of their own animals, while some ‘rent’ it to others. In this ‘rent’ system, the net profit is divided equally between the animal owner and the animal caretaker. Currently caretakers in this system are suffering greatly, said Agus Cahyono.
Agus Cahyono said that from the Rp 300 million loaned, farmers must pay Rp 50 million every 6 months. Because in farmers have been suffering loss in the last two years, they can only afford to pay the interest rate, which is only Rp 9 million.
Head of the Livestock, Fishery and Marine Service Office of Jember, Dalhar, said that cattle price is far lower compared to two years ago. If farmers bought cattle two years ago and just sold it now, they will lose a lot of money. “But now there are farmers who just received their credit and can buy animals at a still cheap price,” said Dalhar.
Chairman of Commission B in the Jember Regional House of Representatives, Anang Murwanto, said that low cattle price is not only hurting farmers in Jember, but also all over the country. Credit pay-off should be rescheduled to lessen the burden of farmers. (Syamsul Hadi | Ed: Aloysius Gonsaga Angi Ebo)
Source : Kompas