By CAROL MATROO Sunday, July 29 2012

The price for live weight poultry in Trinidad and Tobago is expected to increase by $0.55, from $5.50 per pound to $6.05, because grain price is being affected by drought condition in the United States.

According to chairman of the Poultry Industry Standing Committee (PISC) and the Prices Council, Wendy Lee Yeung, soya bean and corn prices are spiking, so the effect on pork and chicken production, which includes chicken, poultry and eggs, have caused those prices to escalate. Extra large eggs are now retailing at $18 per dozen, she told Sunday Newsday yesterday.

Even though the issue is ultimately that of poultry, Lee Yeung said because pigs are fed on the same grains as poultry, pork prices could also ultimately go up. She added that this also had implications for bread prices in the future because wheat prices are also on the rise.

“We are monitoring all of the factors that are creating the conditions that make these prices go up, but these are outside of our control. People can look at the price comparisons on the Ministry of Legal and Consumer Affairs web page, and we will be posting those regularly so that we can see the various prices at the various depots across the country,” Lee Yeung said in a telephone interview.

She said local farmers could appreciate the fact that there had not been spikes in prices within the last year in TT.

She said TT had adequate poultry farmers in TT to supply this country with enough produce, but serious decisions must be made on whether the people want to support the local industry to a point where it is totally self sufficient.