Ministry steps in as vehicles hauling livestock and feed blocked

The national agricultural authority has ordered a ban on illegal road blocks that obstruct vehicles transporting livestock, feed and by-products on the pretext of epidemic prevention.

The notice, released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Tuesday, is a response to farmers' complaints that they are facing great losses as roads for transporting feed and products have been blocked.

According to the notice, the ministry is prohibiting the shutdown of slaughterhouses and closure of roads to villages to secure the supply of meat, eggs and milk.

The ministry requires local authorities to keep clear of transport channels for feed and offer easy access to vehicles transporting livestock products and fresh milk to help farmers deliver their products to consumers.

Also, behavior such as illegally blocking roads to villages and setting up road barriers are prohibited unless approved by county-level authorities, the notice said.

Companies with businesses based on slaughtering or producing feed and livestock by-products are encouraged to resume production as soon as possible.

In late January, farmers in Hubei province－the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak－complained that they will soon run out of feed because roads were being blocked due to an area lockdown.

A pig farmer surnamed He told Sanlian Life Weekly that he had been upset because he had been out of feed and his 400-plus pigs had been crying piteously for food.

He told Sanlian that he purchased 10 metric tons of feed for the pigs on Jan 21－a roughly 10-day supply.

However, his village has been on lockdown since Jan 25 with roads blocked, and feed mills haven't resumed production. He was forced to halve feedings to the pigs, but even so, he expects the feed to run out in a few days.

"Pigs will grow much more slowly with their immunity being affected because they are eating less," he said.

He Jie, president of Yichang Feeding Association in Hubei province and also a member of the board of the city's Jiuding Group in stock raising, told Sanlian that feed mill staff cannot return to work because of the epidemic.

"Transportation is also a problem," he said. "Some roads to villages are being blocked by mud so that farmers cannot get the feed."

Hubei is not alone. Zhang Zhengang, general manager of Jinji Poultry in Wucheng town, Henan province, has buried alive tens of thousands of baby chicks daily since Jan 23 for the same reason. The loss would only become bigger if the chicks were raised, he told GQ Report.

The decision was made alone as he dared not tell the truth to his family members.

"My 10-year-old daughter found the video that showed we buried the baby chickens, saying that I'm a cruel man. But I have no choice."

Henan province announced a strict policy on Jan 20 to control the novel coronavirus outbreak by shutting down the livestock market and blocking roads. These measures, however, caused farmers to face difficulties selling their livestock and providing feed for them.

Problems now besetting farmers may later affect consumers.

Data from the agriculture ministry showed the pork price soared to 60 yuan ($8.60) per kilogram last year as production declined due to African Swine fever, a fatal disease for pigs.

The novel coronavirus has dealt yet another blow to pig farmers and consumers.

Peng Hua, a pork dealer from Hubei province, said that he and his peers are still at home so far. "In previous years, we'd already started business up again," he told Sanlian. "We could usually buy dozens of pigs from farmers a day. But this year, we haven't resumed business yet because roads have been blocked and slaughterhouses haven't opened yet."