Head of egg producers’ body admits shortage but predicts turnaround soon

Despite its general stance against importations, the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers’ Association (BEPPA) is supporting the move by the government to import 1.9 million eggs as it concedes there is, in fact, a shortage.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY on Wednesday, a day after Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir announced that six containers of eggs were on the way to Barbados to help stave off a shortage going into the Christmas season, BEPPA President Stephen Layne confirmed that the local industry was in a precarious situation as the two major egg producers were experiencing challenges.

He said importation is the only solution.

“There is a shortage right now but that will be resolved within a week. The shortage of eggs is obvious from what you have been seeing displayed. The chicken situation is tight but the projections from the hatcheries, the processing plants and growers is that any slight shortage right now would be resolved towards the end of the year as the chickens that are in the houses are slaughtered. Our processors are slaughtering five days a week. So that situation is looking very positive to stabilise. But reluctantly, we have to depend on imports, which we really don’t like to do but that is the present situation,” he said.

Last month, Layne gave the assurance that there were no shortages of poultry or eggs, even as a main producer’s flock was compromised.

The BEPPA president explained that back then, just one farmer had production issues, which led to lulls in the local market for both eggs and chicken. At the time, he said, the other major producer as well as small farmers were ramping up their production to fill in the gaps by that supplier.

However, Layne said that the other major producer recently ran into problems and their production was down by almost 40 per cent. He said that created the shortage and “really put us in a tailspin”.

“We have birds on the island so the importation situation is just temporary. One of the main suppliers had technical problems and when that issue is resolved, they would be pressed back into their usual service. That producer experienced some damage to one of their laying houses and it significantly impacted their ability to produce eggs. The grower moulted the birds by withdrawing the full amount of feed they would eat so they don’t have the inclination to produce eggs. The birds are kept stable and healthy and given adequate amounts of water. So they are doing this until the condition of the laying house improves.

“The parts needed are not manufactured here; these houses are fully computer-automated so you have to put in orders for them. Their production has been down close to 40 per cent or so . . . . Without that, we would not have had this situation at all. We would have been able to meet our commitments,” he said adding that “we should be back in full production next year when we can have all local eggs filling the market demands”.

It was while speaking in the House of Assembly on Tuesday that Minister Weir announced that the containers of eggs were en route to Barbados. One container holds 324 000 eggs.

Layne said that at least two shipments were to reach the island since last week but there was an issue at the Bridgetown Port and the eggs were sent to Trinidad.

“We are not clear if it was an issue with the equipment to offload the container but they were unable to do that and the shipment had to go on to Trinidad to deliver shipments there. There were two containers because you don’t want all coming at the same time. So we are awaiting their arrival back here and we are hoping they will be back by this weekend. So, by next week, we should see the supply of eggs back to normal.”

Layne added that these eggs would help satisfy demands from the manufacturing and tourism industries.

As it relates to the importation of chicken wings, Weir said the government was continuing to import chicken wings.

The state-run Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation is the sole importer of chicken wings.

Layne said he was not opposed to that at this time.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb