24% CATTLE FARMS AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

[Anchor Lead]

The prices of livestock products are skyrocketing while wholesale prices are plummeting, deepening the concerns of livestock farmers. It is predicted that over 20,000 Korean beef farms will go bankrupt in the next two years.

[Pkg]

Bundles of straw wrapped in plastic are piled up high. Livestock farmers who couldn't afford the increasingly expensive feed are forced to give straw to their cattle instead.

[Soundbite] Gu Ja-wun(Yesan-gun County office) : "A livestock farmer can save about 30% in feed cost if he makes his own feed. We provide farmers with the microorganisms necessary in making the feed."

Spiking grain prices have pushed up the compound feed cost by about 50% in the past two years. In contrast, with Korean beef consumption falling, the wholesale beef price this month stood at around 15,000 won per kilogram, down 30% from two years ago.

[Soundbite] Lee Ji-won(Korean cattle farmer) : "The money I make from cattle auction can't cover the production cost. The more cattle I sell, the greater the losses incurred."

The Hanwoo Policy Institute warned that if a calf is raised for 24 months and sold at the current market rate, one head would bring a net loss of 4.15 million won. The institute urged the government to stabilize the cattle feed price because, at this rate, roughly 21,000 livestock farms or 24% of all Hanwoo farms may go bankrupt.

[Soundbite] Seo Yeong-seok(Hanwoo Policy Institute) : "Farmers, government and feed makers are demanding the establishment of a feed stabilization fund. But that demand hasn't been met yet."

Tariffs on American and Australian beef will also be lifted, respectively, in three years and five years time. Korea may also begin to import more beef from South America in line with the Korea-Mercosur Trade agreement. In this case, Korean livestock farmers fear that the foundation of Hanwoo production would fall apart even faster.