Farmers oppose Guyana Blackbelly breeding

heep farmers have voiced strong opposition to a joint venture with Guyana aimed at replenishing declining numbers of the indigenous Blackbelly sheep, citing concerns over transparency and questioning the programme’s effectiveness.

The initiative, launched in 2022, involves exporting 1 000 Barbadian sheep to Guyana for breeding and meat production, with carcasses and sheep skins to be sent back to Barbados. But Rommel Parris, president of the Barbados Sheep Farmers Inc., told Barbados TODAY that many farmers are sceptical of the project’s progress and outcomes.

“A lot of farmers are not in favour of exportation to Guyana right now. It’s a major concern across the board,” Parris said. He highlighted a lack of empirical data and detailed reports: “We are not seeing any pictures, any videos of the animals who have gone down from the beginning. We have no empirical data to go on, no detailed reports.”

Despite assurances from Blackbelly sheep expert Dr Leroy McClean, the consultant to the Ministry of Agriculture leading the programme, that progress was satisfactory, Parris expressed doubts about the information being relayed. “We’re not seeing how they are striving, if they are striving. What environment are these animals being kept in, and so on?”

Parris also claimed that the sheep exported to Guyana were primarily sourced from farmers going out of business or facing market challenges, rather than those actively supporting the initiative. “It was not an indication from farmers that they are going to take part in the project,” he said.

“Most of the sheep that went down, as I was informed, were bought from farmers and not from Greenland Livestock Research Station. What happened was that farmers who were going out of business they bought the sheep from. Those sheep were tested and then exported,” Parris said. “The farmers were either going out of business or did not have a market at that particular time for their animals and this was the only market available.

“They were offering a pretty penny and sometimes when it comes to having money in your pocket, one has to think about paying utilities and making sure your house is in order and functioning. So farmers caught at it. But it is not something that farmers have gone into. It is more of a circumstance that they participated.”

The sheep farmers’ spokesman advocated for a homegrown initiative to improve the industry, suggesting an incentive programme for registered Blackbelly sheep farmers similar to those in the pig and dairy industries. “Once a no-teeth Blackbelly ewe is registered and a farmer wants to breed that ewe or they bred that ewe, as long as that ewe has access to land, then we would look at giving some kind of incentive,” Parris proposed.

Concerns were also raised about the cost-effectiveness of the Guyana programme, with Parris noting expenses related to transport, quarantine, and butchering. He warned that these costs could lead to higher prices for consumers when the lamb cuts are shipped back to Barbados.

Despite Barbados Blackbelly lamb being hailed for producing superior meat to that of wool sheep, this country imports 1.3 million kilogrammes of lamb, primarily from New Zealand, at a cost of $14 million. Parris argued that the funds allocated to the Guyana project could have been better invested in local farmers and a comprehensive breeding programme.

Inbreeding remains a significant challenge for the Barbados Blackbelly sheep population, according to Parris. He stressed the importance of improved record-keeping and the potential use of artificial insemination and embryo transfer technology to address this issue.

Meanwhile, the Barbados Agricultural Society is set to launch a census in August to determine the current population size of sheep on the island, which could inform future breeding strategies.

Parris highlighted inbreeding as a major hurdle in the development of the livestock.

“Inbreeding has been a problem throughout the years and it will be a problem no matter what,” he told Barbados TODAY. “The Barbados Blackbelly sheep carries a characteristic which is unique and though people will try to breed along a certain line, you cannot go outside this characteristic. Because the gene pool is so small, we’ve never really used the aspects of artificial insemination to its fullest or the embryo transfer technology. Inbreeding will happen also because of the lack of record-keeping. This is why registration and a census is important.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb