[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Yoon Byung-tae, mayor of Naju, Jeollanam-do, visited Yeongsanpo Cattle Market to listen to the difficulties faced by farmers struggling due to the FTA duty-free policy on imported livestock products and soaring feed prices.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae visited Yeongsanpo Cattle Market to listen to the difficulties faced by Korean beef farmers. [Photo by Naju City]
According to the city on the 27th, Yeongsanpo Cattle Market, where an average of about 15,000 Korean cattle are traded annually, opened in 1997 on a site of 100,362 square meters, and a Korean cattle (fattening cattle, breeding cattle, calves) auction market is held every Friday.
On this day, livestock farmers expressed their hardships regarding the Korean cattle breeding conditions, where it is difficult to cover production costs due to soaring feed prices.
Mayor Yoon promised to prepare multifaceted measures to strengthen the competitiveness of Korean cattle farms, including 15 support projects such as interest subsidy for feed purchase funds for Korean cattle farms, raising the standard amount for the calf production stabilization project, operating the Eco-friendly Agriculture University, and promoting the long-term project of breeding stock improvement.
Last year, the city supported 21.619 billion KRW at a low interest rate of 1% with a 3-year grace period and 2-year installment repayment for 219 farms through the interest subsidy project for feed purchase funds for Korean cattle farms, and this year plans to support the interest on last year’s purchase funds.
In the long term, in response to the 2026 duty-free and import quota removal under the Korea-US FTA, the city plans to focus on fostering premium Korean cattle and strengthening competitiveness through breeding stock improvement.
This year, the city will newly establish a ‘Youth Korean Cattle Class’ at the Eco-friendly Agriculture University to build a systematic education system for producing excellent breeding Korean cattle.
The Youth Korean Cattle Class, which will be held from next month 16th to November 30th for 30 young livestock farmers with a total of 29 sessions, will focus on feeding management, breeding stock improvement, and disease prevention education.
Along with brand projects linked with Jeollanam-do such as cow reduction for individual management and promotional events to stimulate consumption, the city will also actively propose raising the standard amount for the calf production stabilization project.
Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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