Prices for poultry meat in the Dominican Republic could rise as much as RD$4.00 (US$0.04) per pound in the coming weeks as a result of the drought in the U.S., according to the country's Agriculture Ministry advisor Manuel Tejera. The prediction comes in spite of a recent "Day without Chicken," a boycott organized to protest the prices of poultry.
Tejera said local stockpiles of corn and soybeans are nearly depleted, and farmers will have to buy more at 40 percent higher prices in August and September than what they bought previously due to damaged U.S. crops. As a result, chicken farms will adjust their prices to sell between RD$33.00 (US$0.84) and RD$34.00 (US$0.87) per pound, instead of the current RD$29.00 (US$0.74) per pound.
