Santo Domingo.- Despite complaints and last Tuesday’s "Day without Chicken" boycott to press for a lower price, poultry meat could climb as much as RD$4.00 in the coming weeks.

Agriculture Ministry advisor Manuel Tejera’s prediction for the increase is based on the drought throughout the United States grain belt, where soybean and corn crops, the main material in chicken feed, are having low yields.

The official said calculating production costs to 07/16/12 was based on a bushel of corn at 6.80 and is now 7.79, and soybean at 450 the short ton and is now 495.

 Tejera said the fact that local stockpiles of those grains are nearly depleted will force farmers to buy again at 40% higher prices in August and September, for which chicken farms would sell between RD$33.00 or RD$34.00, instead of the current RD$29.00 per pound.