Because the level of rainfall forecast for the winter is expected to favor livestock activity, entrepreneurs in the sector expect local production of meat and milk to grow during 2021.
Experts predict that this year's winter conditions will lead to an increase in green pasture for cattle. This factor will boost milk and meat production.
In recent years, Nicaraguan beef exports have been on the rise due to the improved quality of the product, but foreign sales of live cattle have been declining due to the deterioration of trade relations with Venezuela.
Official figures specify that between 2019 and 2020 Nicaraguan beef exports increased by 4%, going from $522 million to $542 million.
In Nicaragua, from January to July of this year, exports of livestock products totaled $449 million, 16% more than reported for the same period in 2019, mainly due to increased sales of beef.
Figures from the Export Processing Center (Cetrex) indicate that between January and July 2019 and the same period this year, foreign sales of livestock products increased from $388 million to $449 million.
In the last five years, beef consumption in Central America increased 4%, from 335,000 tons in 2014 to about 347,000 tons in 2019, growth that was boosted by the Salvadoran and Honduran markets.
Figures from the "Beef Market Snapshot" prepared by the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, detail that in the last two years’ regional consumption of beef registered a slight increase, since between 2018 and 2019 it is estimated that demand in Central America rose from 341 thousand metric tons to 347 thousand tons.
Businessmen in the sector say that for the last two years the theft of livestock and illegal slaughtering of animals has been on the rise.
Representatives of the Federation of Livestock Associations of Nicaragua (Faganic) reported that another situation that affects them is the shortage of credit for producers.
Following an outbreak of paralytic rabies in Veraguas province, local authorities reported that a cordon sanitaire was established to prevent the spread of the disease.
Representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) explained that the quarantined area is equivalent to a 10-km radius from the reported outbreak in Mariato district.
In Nicaragua, ranchers claim that as a result of the tax reform and the inevitable increase in production costs, they have had to increase the slaughter of female cattle by 4%, putting at risk the growth of the cattle herd.
After the approval on February 27, 2019 of the amendment to the Tax Concertation Law, which consisted of raising income tax from 1% to 2% for medium sized companies with higher income, and for large taxpayers from 1% to 3%, the livestock sector has reported considerable increases in its production costs.
From January to March 2019, the countries of the region reported $154 million in sales of beef abroad, and exports to Puerto Rico grew 12% over the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
The socio-political crisis that Nicaragua has been suffering since a year ago, together with the recent tax reform, forces businessmen in the livestock sector to postpone investments in genetic improvement and technology.
Nicaragua's businessmen have been dealing hard times in the last year, because in the midst of the political and economic crisis that Nicaragua has been facing since April 2018, the National Assembly approved in early 2019 a tax reform that raises the income tax of large taxpayers from 1% to 3%.
After the death of at least two thousand head of cattle was reported in Guatemala, authorities and producers agreed to work to establish "in a scientific manner, the cause of bovine mortality.
For the purpose of determining in a conclusive way the factors that cause this sanitary phenomenon in Petén, several sectors of the productive chain of meat and milk of this department were summoned last Monday, March 18, to integrate a technical table that establishes in a scientific way, the reason for bovine mortality, explained the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA), in a press release.
The barriers imposed by the Honduran and Panamanian markets, coupled with the negative effect of the recent tax reform, force Nicaraguan cattle ranchers to predict a bleak future.
Figures from the National Livestock Commission of Nicaragua (Conagan) specify that between 2017 and 2018 meat exports from Nicaragua fell by 7.9%, from $587 million to $541 million, and in the case of dairy, the fall was 8.4%, going down from $177 million to $162 million.
Using resources from the European Union and the Nicaraguan government, a program will be financed which focuses on the transformation of the cattle value chain and the implementation of a sustainable production model.
The institutions promoting the program reported that "... through this program, the European Union (EU) is making available to the GRUN a total of €20 million, which will be administered by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for the Development (AECID), which is also contributing 500 thousand euros, and there will also be a counterpart contribution from the Government of €1.2 million."
The guild of farmers in Nicaragua plans to close 2017 with more than $700 million in exports of meat and dairy products.
According to the Federation of Livestock Associations of Nicaragua (Faganic), exports of dairy products amounted to around 71,725 tons, which generated revenues of $154 million, while in terms of meat products, 133 thousand tons were sold abroad, worth more than $513 millions.
In order to take advantage of the potential of the Nicaraguan livestock industry, it is essential that traceability systems be improved, a prerequisite for entering demanding markets such as Europe.
The growth in exports of meat and meat products from Nicaragua could be even greater if product monitoring and control systems were properly implemented throughout the production chain.The European market is one of the most demanding in this regard, and is one of the most profitable once the necessary traceability systems are implemented.
In the first four months of the year the volume of meat exported exceeded the figure for the same period in 2016 by 45% and generated income of $134 million.
The value exported was also higher than the one registered in the first quarter of last year, when $96 million was exported, according to Cetrex's figures.
Representatives of the sector attribute the better results to diversification of the markets for which Nicaraguan meat is destined.René Blandón, president of the Comisión Nacional Ganadera de Nicaragua (Conagan), commented to Elnuevodiario.com.ni: "The industries, which are responsible for placing the processed product, have got their finger out, so to speak, in searching for and conquering new markets for meat."