RAMBLE, Hanover — Farmers unable to come up with the cash needed to start, modernise, or retool their dairy business can now lease the equipment they need.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green launched the Equipment Lease Programme, part of the ongoing Dairy Livestock Innovation and Nutrition Programme (DLINK), at Knockalva Polytechnic College in Hanover on Thursday.

“We will be providing 15 mobile milking machines, 11 milk cooling tanks and, as you’ve seen, a harvester. All of this is over $20 million that we have invested, that we will be providing on preferential lease terms to our farmers,” Green said in his keynote address.

As former president of Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Lenworth Fulton noted in a recent Jamaica Observer article, milk production fell from 40 million litres in the 1980s to about 12 million litres today. Marlon Edwards of Edwards Dairy Farm in Ramble, Hanover, believes the initiative announced on Thursday will help boost the industry.

“I think this initiative is a good one because you have to encourage people back in the sector. You encourage people back in the sector by giving them equipment [on rental] that helps ease the pressure off that initial set-up,” he argued.

Green pointed to the importance of using technology in the dairy industry.

“The reality is, it is an inefficient way of doing things — and in this modern era we cannot continue to use old methodologies and expect different results. We will be making the mobile milking machines available, especially, to our farmers who are still hand-milking — like our farmers in St Thomas — to ensure that they embark on a more efficient process that’s less labour-intensive and ultimately more productive,” he said.

“Oftentimes, those farmers only milk one time per day. Now, with our mobile milkers we’ve seen our farmers milking two times per day. That means you’re already doubling your income from the same animal… Additionally, we’re going to be providing equipment, not just to improve operations but for opportunities for farmers to expand their business.

“As you would have heard, the harvester moves you from harvesting an acre of grass in what would take a few days to literally minutes. Just think about the efficiency; think about the return on investment; think about the fact that time is money. We’re doing this because we have to increase our production,” Green emphasised.

Edwards Dairy Farm’s Sam Edwards believes the initiative will assist with harvesting.

“We can’t rely on cows going to pastures every day. You have to have some conservation methods — whether it be silage, or hay — that can be reintroduced into the dairy sector. I think it is a good initiative to develop harvesting,” Edwards told the Observer.

In the meantime Green is already looking at how to move the programme further.

“This is just the start of our equipment lease programme. We’re going to continue to build up our equipment and our technology centre to have more equipment that we can lease to the farmers. We’re also going to look at models, once we have sufficient equipment, where farmers can lease to purchase. [Now] you don’t have the resources to buy the equipment up front, we’ll give you a lease. [We will] work out the plan where over time you can lease until you have the money to purchase that equipment so that you can continue to modernise your operation. That is the direction that we’re going,” the minister said.

Jamaica Dairy Development Board CEO Devon Sayers, who chaired the ceremony, used his closing remarks to let Green know the dairy board is in need of $250 million for its cattle lease programme.

“We have a shortage of dairy cattle, and we want to import around 1,000 animals to put in our lease programme for our farmers for the next five years,” explained Sayers.

He assured the minister that the cattle identified are suitable for the Jamaican climate.

“Go to Cabinet, tell them about the great work that the dairy board is doing, and tell them that we need some more financial support because we are going to need your help to get all of these things,” Sayers urged Green.

Jamaica Dairy Development Board CEO Devon Sayers chairing the Government’s Equipment Lease Programme launch in Hanover on Thursday. (Photo: Anthony Lewis)