With hotel closures affecting projections on imports for 2020, there might be a marginal decrease in Jamaica’s overall import bill, but $123 billion or the equivalent of US$900 million as of November 2019 is still difficult to deal with, even now.

Now there are significant developments within the small ruminant sector that may offer some relief.

In January 2020, opportunities were highlighted to small farmers about the value of mutton and goat meat production. Jamaica was importing approximately 90 per cent of the meat consumed, amounting to US$13.3 million based on 2018 figures. Based on the successful adaptation of imported goat breeds to our climatic conditions, it was believed that Jamaica should be able to sustain a thriving goat industry.

Since then local farmers have not been idle.

With the support of key agricultural agencies and associations, ruminant farmers are capitalising on opportunities presented through a silage project spearheaded by the Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB) in association with the Bodles Research Station, the Small Ruminants Association of Jamaica (SRAJM), and Hi-Pro.

The silage project aims to deal with the lack of access to forage, but that situation may become a blight of the past.

Jamaica’s volatile climatic conditions, swinging from prolonged drought to flooding, directly affects the ability of ruminant farmers to feed their herds. While larger farms have occasionally imported hay to offset their fodder deficit, the practice is costly.

Small farmers often have to grapple with limited supply from local producers and cannot surmount the cost associated with importing this precious resource.

“We plan to use forage conservation to expand livestock production by increasing fodder availability for farmers across the island,” explained Khalil Brown, nutritionist at Hi-Pro.

The project’s scope is based on identifying small farmers, equipping them with the resources and technical know-how to conserve and supply forage to ruminant farmers.

“These are the facts,” Brown explained, “The majority of our local ruminant farmers have less than one acre of land. That acre can sustain 25-50 goats and no more, giving farmers relatively little room for expansion. Now, if you take forage out of the equation, an acre of land can support 500 heads. Imagine the possibilities for landless farmers when packaged fodder is made available to them.”

Through JA Reach, a USAID-funded programme, the JDDB acquired two silage packing machines and one silo press for silage output.

“To access these machines, the process is simple. Farmers need to contact our technical officer and request the service. Silage bags are provided along with technical support free of charge. The farmer has to provide transportation for the machine from Bodles to their farm,” outlined Everton Parkes, acting chief executive officer for the JDDB.

The Rhymesbury Dairy cluster, based in York Town, Clarendon, is conveniently located nearby sugar cane producers. Silage project facilitators have brokered an arrangement whereby Rhymesbury cane farmers will now supply the ruminant farmers with silage.

“We have sugar cane in abundance, which will not be used to produce sugar, which can be repurposed to provide silage for our farmers,” said Parkes.

Emphasis is being placed on creating silage linkages within the southern parishes, including Clarendon, St Elizabeth, and St Thomas, which have a high concentration of goat farmers and historically low rainfall, resulting in fluctuations in forage.

The silage project was launched in June 2020 at a Hi-Pro #GROWSTRONG handover. Both dairy and goat farmers affected by the fallout from COVID-19 received a cumulative 5 tonnes of Hi-Pro feed from their respective associations.

The pilot phase including farm assessments, training, storage process implementation, and the creation of linkage – is now underway.