For the first time in this millennium at the end of winter – in February and early March, when spring cereals are sown, there was a shortage of wheat and barley seeds in the South Herzegovina. There are two reasons for the shortage – the first, in recent years the demand was modest, so agricultural pharmacies and shopping centers were not prepared, and the second increased demand, writes Vecernji list BiH.
100% higher
Namely, increase in prices of cereals and processed cereal products has driven cattle breeders in the first place, when they did not sow this autumn to start working on spring crops. As there were no seeds of spring cereals in the South Herzegovina, they were procured “through a connection” from Southwestern Bosnia, for example Glamoč, and even some places in Eastern Herzegovina. There was also a demand for larger plots of uncultivated land, in which some were successful. This is one side of the coin. The other is revealed by the professional services of the Association Seljački savez of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to their interpretation, obviously larger areas sown with cereals compared to previous years, do not mean higher production.
“We are afraid of lower yields due to top-dressing with artificial fertilizers, which have risen terribly, by as much as 300 to 400 percent.” Nitrogen or nitrogen fertilizers are used to promote the growth of so-called plants. KAN and “urea” have become the most expensive, which makes experts’ doubts about the optimal grain yield justified. It is to be expected that farmers will calculate when fertilizing, so it is difficult to expect top yields per hectare. From the current prices of cereals and grain mixtures livestock are causing headaches for everyone.
In one of the feed malls, we checked the prices, which are less than one hundred percent higher than last year!? A kilogram of corn was valued at 0.91 BAM, a bag of 25 kg was 22.90 BAM. A year ago, a bag of corn was 12 to 14 BAM. A kilogram of wheat was 0.94 BAM, barley 0.84 BAM, and oats 0.79 BAM. Bran was 0.51 BAM, feed mixture – a bag of 10 kg 13.50 BAM, or 1.35 BAM per kilogram. A bag of 10 kg poultry mixture cost 12.20 BAM, i.e., 1.20 BAM per kilogram, etc.
At the end of this series, we point out the warning of the trader who said: “These are current prices, new delivery, which will arrive in a day or two, will lead to higher prices.”
Lamb 18 BAM
Translated into the language of a good host, everything together means that the current increase in meat prices is not final. Further price increases are to be expected. Based on what we heard dealing with this topic, the number of restaurants offering lamb during summer as a specialty could be less than during previous years. Lamb has already reached the price of 18 BAM per kilogram, but in domestic supply, demand exceeds supply.
