Sheep farmers meet to discuss future of industry

Tag : pure leather

"WE must put our heads, hearts and hands together as sheep farmersto ensure that the sheep farming sector becomes productive."
This was the passionate rallying call of an emotional and tearfulVincent Layne, speaking to a gathering of sheep farmers at FarmRoad, St. Philip yesterday. The purpose of the meeting was tofacilitate discussion on the development of a Sheep Farmers'Co-operative which would serve to better equip sheep farmers toface the challenges affecting the sector and formulate solutionsthrough collective effort.
The farmers, representing almost every parish in the island,identified the lack of grass/hay during the dry season and the highprice of feed as the two factors which have crippled theprofitability of the industry.
One farmer, Mr. Burke Cumberbatch, recounted how he had lost alarge percentage of his flock due to the unavailability of grassduring the dry season. He added that he has also had tosignificantly scale back his operations because of the significantincrease in the price of feeds. Ronald Howell, another farmer fromSt. Joseph lamented that he has had to put his first-love sheepfarming on the backburner because of the problems besetting theindustry.
The general sentiment among the sheep farmers was one offrustration, not only because of the difficulties facing theindustry, but also the lack of support from the government, morespecifically the Ministry of Agriculture and the BarbadosAgricultural Society (BAS).
Vincent Laynes Vision
Offsetting the air of gloom surrounding the discussion was thespirit of optimism and vision of the man who was responsible fororganising the event, Mr. Vincent Layne.
He implored the farmers not to give up but to join with him inreviving the industry through the formation of a Sheep FarmersCo-operative. The Co-operative would be a means of allowing thefarmers to find solutions to their own problems while increasingtheir bargaining power.
The Sheep Farming sector, like most industries in Barbados, has hadto deal with the adverse effects of the increase in fuel costswhich has caused a dramatic shift in the price of feeds moving from$12.05 per bag to $17.00 per bag.
However, Mr. Layne explained that he had devised an alternativeapproach to the production of feed which would allow the farmers toaccess food for their sheep at a cost below the current marketprice and could also be used as a substitute for grass during thedry season.
He explained that shredded bagasse mixed with molasses, corn,soybean and Pre-mix provides the same nutritional content thatcould be had from either commercial feed or grass. Mr. Laynepointed out that this alternative mixture is what he feeds to hisanimals. He further explained that his animals have been thrivingon this mixture which is evidenced in the fact that he has not lostany of his sheep since he began using the product.
Backing Mr. Laynes call for the formulation of a co-operative modeltype association among sheep farmers was credit unionist Mr. HughMcClean. He identified the co-operative model as a critical tool inproviding an institutional framework within which the sheep farmingindustry could move towards becoming a profit-generating sector.
Profit Potential of Barbados Blackbelly Sheep
The other keynote speaker at the event was Mr. Leroy McClean, aResearcher and PhD. candidate at the University of the West Indies,Cave Hill, who previously conducted a study in the Genetics of theBarbados Blackbelly Sheep.
He pointed out that the two qualities which made the BarbadosBlackbelly Sheep unique and highly prized was its prolificacy andits ability to thrive in parasitic conditions. He demonstrated tothe farmers how his study, which had developed a special techniqueusing genetic markers for identifying a pure bred Barbados BlackBelly Sheep, could be used by those farmers focusing on thebreeding of the animal. By using the genetic marker the farmerwould be able to eliminate the problem of differentiating between apure bred and cross bred Barbados Blackbelly Sheep.
He further commented that there was tremendous economic potentialin using the skin of the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep (the Rolls Royceof Hair Sheep) to make high-quality leather goods. This could be anuntapped source of profit for the farmers.