Animal feed prices hit a new high

The scaling down of operations by millers has created a shortage of the by-products needed for making animal feed, pushing up the price of the key supplements and setting the stage for higher costs for farmers.

Maize and wheat millers have cut down on processing because of slow moving stocks of flour on retail shelves, which has left them stuck with large quantities of unsold product.

As a result, animal feeds manufacturers are getting limited stocks of maize germ, wheat bran and wheat pollard, pushing the cost of these supplements to historic high.

A kilogramme of wheat bran has gone up from Sh14 a kilo to Sh20, maize germ from Sh17 to Sh25 and wheat pollard from Sh20 to Sh28 for the same quantity.

“Over 50 percent of the supplements that we use come from millers, but reduced operations at the mills has led to a sharp decline of these materials pushing up the cost to the levels we have not seen before,” said Joseph Karuri, chairman of the Association of Kenya Animal Feeds Manufacturers.

Mr Karuri said importation of yellow maize has not had much impact in checking the prevailing high prices of the animal feeds as it has been weighed down by exorbitant cost of these key supplements.

The retail price of animal feed has remained at a three-year high since January, with the cost of a 70 kilo bag of chick mash rising to Sh3,600 from Sh3,300 previously while growers mash is retailing at Sh3,100 from Sh2,800. Standard dairy meal is selling at Sh2,500 from Sh2,200.

Imports have, however, helped to lower the cost of maize from Sh3,600 for a 90 kilo bag previously, to Sh3,000 at the moment following an increase in supply at the market after months of limited stocks.

Millers have complained in the last four months that their stocks of flour have not been moving on the shelves because of reduced purchasing power from consumers, occasioned by the Covid-19 that has seen many Kenyans lose their jobs with others having to contend with reduced salaries.