Chicken farmers battle with high price of corn
It is becoming more apparent that an increase in the price of corn translates to an increased bankruptcy rate, at least when looking at poultry farming.
Because growing demand for environmentally friendly biofuel has pushed up corn feed prices, poultry farmers are increasingly going out of business.
According to Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd., 13 farmers went bankrupt during the first seven months of 2007.
This compares with 10 for the 12 months in 2003. Additionally, the figure for 2003 was the highest in the six years through 2006.
In Japan, prices of livestock feed that contains corn have jumped by nearly 30% from 2006 to their highest level in 11 years, according to the farm ministry. Also, Japan imports more than 90% of its corn feed from the US, where prices for the crop continue to rise.
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