Farmers move to cut costs, pool resources amid feed price hike

Livestock farmers across the island are moving to cut costs to help counter the trickle down impact of a near 20 per cent hike in animal feeds, Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul has disclosed.

Paul told Barbados TODAY farmers were also exploring bulk buying raw materials following a board meeting to discuss the controversial feed price increase imposed by Pinnacle Feeds Limited – the island’s main manufacturer of most livestock feeds.

He said that having recognized that the cost of locally-produced foods such as pork and poultry would have to rise because farmers cannot absorb the increase, the board has agreed on a twin-strategy that includes greater efficiency in farmers’ operations.

Paul told Barbados TODAY: “We want to embrace, at the level of the farm, what we called cost-minimization, in that we are going to try where it is possible to ensure that we minimize the cost…and that is by becoming more efficient.

“One of the things that we are trying to improve on is feed conversion ratio on the farm. For instance, what we are going to do is to be more efficient in the use of feed, but in the meantime we are also trying to ensure that we are producing a good product, quality product at what we would consider to be a reasonable price.”

The spokesman for the farmers’ umbrella body acknowledged that while the livestock producers and the consumers cannot be shielded from the price hike, the organization intended to examine every aspect of the farmers’ operations to see how to improve their businesses and manage costs.

“Because once we can keep down costs, we can then be able to be more competitive and be still able to offer a reasonably competitive price to farmers at the same time. This is where I think we can try to address the issue,” Paul said.

A second strategy revealed by the BAS boss calls for a cooperative-type approach to buying raw materials.

“One of the things that we are going to look to see is how can we get farmers to operate as a collective in terms of the sources of inputs on their farms,” he said. “For instance, if through bulk purchasing of inputs we can get a cheaper price for a commodity, it is areas like those that we will be trying to get farmers to work together.”

He said the BAS would be leading the charge in trying to ensure that inputs for farmers can be secured at more affordable prices.

The CEO told Barbados TODAY that it was still too early to determine the level of the pending price increases to consumers because farmers now have to examine their operations and appraise the type of price impact on their costs.

After Pinnacle Feeds raised their feed price this week, local producers warned that the price of meat, poultry, processed meat products and even some vegetables would rise.

Government has ended its three-month-long subsidy to the Lower Estate feed manufacturer and the firm is blaming what it calls the “unprecedented increases” in the world prices of raw materials and freight.

Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir was expected to meet this afternoon with the management of Pinnacle Feeds to discuss the troubling price hike and to work out a plan for the way forward for the industry and consumers.

Before going into that meeting, Weir told Barbados TODAY that the Government was considering its options of engaging an alternate animal feed manufacturer. (EJ)