What does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs mean by advocating eating more pork and buying more pork?

       The Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival Organization Steering Committee held a press conference at 10 a.m. on September 1 (Wednesday) at the Information Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Ma Youxiang, deputy director of the China Farmers Harvest Festival Organization Steering Committee and deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, briefed the media on the 2021 China Farmers Harvest Festival and answered questions from reporters.

       At the press conference, Ma Youxiang said that natural disasters such as floods occurred frequently this year, which had a certain impact on agricultural production. Henan is the main producing area of wheat and corn in my country. It has experienced extreme weather rarely seen in history. All parties are very concerned about the operation of the grain market, and we have further strengthened monitoring and analysis. From the perspective of scheduling, the overall price of grain in China continues to remain basically stable, and there is no sharp rise or fall in the market. In July, the average monthly price of rice, wheat, and corn in the three grain bazaars monitored by our department was 129.22 yuan per 100 catties, which was basically the same as the previous month and 5.5 percent higher than the same period last year. As the rainstorm disaster has a great impact on the production of corn, peanut and soybean in some areas of Henan Province, the price fluctuation of these three varieties is also very concerned. In July, the national average prices of these three varieties showed a steady and declining trend. From the monitoring situation, the impact of the heavy rain disaster in Henan was limited. At present, the southern early indica rice harvest is on the market, the output has increased, the quality has improved, the market has been booming, and the price has risen; the peak season of wheat purchase is gradually coming to an end, and the sales of grain by traders have accelerated, and the price has dropped slightly compared with the previous period. The purchase price in Henan and other major producing areas is about 1.25 yuan per catty. The key to the smooth operation of China's grain market is that the fundamentals of supply and demand are solid.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day approaching, the consumption of agricultural products will usher in the traditional peak season. Generally, the prices of agricultural and sideline products will rise at this time, which is a rule. In addition to grain and oil, the production and supply situation of "vegetable basket" products such as pork, vegetables and fruits is also good this year. In particular, pig production capacity was fully restored, with the national breeding sows and pig stocks returning to 101.6 percent and 100.2 percent at the end of 2017, respectively, at the end of July, half a year ahead of schedule to achieve the recovery target. Therefore, the market supply of agricultural products in China is guaranteed during the festival, especially pork. As you may know, the recent decline is very fast. I hope you can take this opportunity to eat more pork and buy more pork.

It is generally believed that the real reason why the country advocates eating more pork and buying more pork is to stabilize the price of pigs. The endless decline in pig prices in recent months has been influenced by many factors. First of all, the recovery of pig production capacity is good, and consumption is weak due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. Coupled with the import of frozen meat, under the superposition of multiple factors, the price of pigs has fallen to "stop the car" and dropped below the cost line. Many pig farmers have lost their efforts. This situation is obviously unreasonable.

Officials have issued various policies to try to boost pig prices. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce released information that it will start the second round of central reserve pork collection and storage this year with relevant departments.

In accordance with the provisions of the "Plan for Improving the Government's Pork Reserve Regulation Mechanism to Ensure Supply and Price Stability in the Pork Market", the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Commerce will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the General Administration of Market Supervision and other relevant departments to once again start the central pork reserve collection and storage work during the year, and will supervise and guide all localities to increase their efforts to carry out local pork reserve collection and storage in a timely.

According to the news, the current pig price level is generally low. It is recommended that relevant slaughtering companies and meat food processing companies seize favorable opportunities to replenish inventory in a timely manner; it is recommended that farms (households) make reasonable arrangements for production and operation decisions to maintain pig production capacity at a reasonable level.

However, it is obviously unrealistic to pin hopes on the government. Relevant policies have been issued before. On the whole, the boost effect is relatively small. Farmers still have to "save themselves" to achieve cost reduction and efficiency increase. After this "cold winter", only oneself can save the price of pigs!