BAS head wants subsidy to help cushion poultry industry from rising input costs

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul is calling on the Mia Mottley administration to reintroduce a subsidy for the poultry industry to help farmers cope and to make the industry more attractive to investors and potential farmers.

His call comes as poultry costs continue to rise on the back of increasing input costs, and as consumers continue to cry out for an ease.

Like other parts of the world, Barbados is also facing an egg shortage, which has led to a dramatic price increase for that commodity.

“Every country in the world subsidies their agricultural sector and I make no apology for asking the Government to provide a subsidy to the agricultural sector,” Paul told journalists on Saturday, on the sidelines of an Optimum Poultry Performance seminar at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

The seminar, which saw dozens of farmers attending, and intended to provide some guidance on how to improve efficiency and have them share concerns and receive feedback from experts, was hosted by the island’s lone feed provider, Pinnacle Feeds Limited in collaboration with the BAS.

Towards the end of August last year, Government subsidised feed prices to the tune of $2 million for six months, which Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir said was the quickest and most feasible solution to avert price hikes and keep farmers in business.

However, with that subsidy ending and an average eight per cent increase in feed prices taking effect around mid-March, the price of poultry and other meat products has increased, putting added pressure on farmers to cope with overall increased input costs.

Paul said he was puzzled as to why the government ended the subsidy but continued to offer significant incentives to the island’s bread and butter tourism industry.

“So rich people who come and build hotels in Barbados, come and receive huge benefits and we make no bones about it, yet we have a difficulty when we are engaging in practices that will help a poor farmer who is trying to feed his family, and we make qualms about $2 million when $50 million going the other way and we are not thinking anything about it,” said Paul.

He made it clear that local farmers were in no position to compete against heavily subsidised imported products from the US market.

Pointing out that in some countries their governments provided assistance through educational seminars, such as the seminar hosted by Pinnacle Feed, Paul suggested that this kind of assistance from the Government would provide some ease for the feed company, the BAS and farmers.

“Even in terms of vet advice, all of this is huge subsidies that are given to producers in other countries. So, it is kind of unfair when we have these liberal economists that talk about free trade and say ‘there is no need for the trade barriers, break them down and let all the products from overseas come in’. They don’t understand that you are asking a local producer to compete with a product that has huge advantages,” he argued.

Poultry Nutritionist Dr Tanika O’Conner Dennie said the world was currently facing an egg shortage and she suggested that farmers in Barbados should try to do things that were in their control to help mitigate the impact.

She suggested that farmers who have layers should consider keeping them a little longer in commission while expecting smaller and fewer eggs.

“The feed intake also needs to be monitored. So, in response to the heat, the layers will reduce the feed they are eating. So, what you need to do is give them a more nutrient dense diet,” she said, adding that management practices should also help to mitigate the impact. (MM)