Poultry industry: T&T shortages unlikely here

Barbados has avoided the egg supply disruptions affecting Trinidad and Tobago, the producers’ chief spokesman has said, reassuring consumers that chicken production remains steady.

Stephen Layne, president of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA), told Barbados TODAY that hatcheries “have been working well” despite growing international freight pressures and regional supply-chain volatility.

While Trinidadian producers grapple with severe difficulties sourcing imported hatching eggs, hatcheries here maintain stable operations through robust, long-standing contracts with overseas breeder farms.

Layne said: “We are not being impacted similarly as Trinidad.”

He explained that commercial hatcheries – including major integrated operations such as Chickmont Foods, which produces its own stock – have maintained adequate inventory. Rather than facing a deficit, the market recently experienced a slight surplus of birds, necessitating state intervention to assist small-scale farmers in moving inventory from processing plants to market.

“Recently, the market was a little bit full, and therefore we had excess poultry,” Layne noted. “Fortunately, the Ministry of Agriculture and the BADMC [Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation] have come to the assistance of the smaller farmers to relieve them in that situation. So the poultry farmers are very grateful for that initiative.”

Despite the immediate stability, Layne cautioned that the industry is not immune to rising operational overheads. Global logistical bottlenecks and elevated freight charges have forced hatcheries to adjust wholesale prices for day-old chicks.

“The impact isn’t like what we are seeing in Trinidad; the impact is that we’ve had some increase of cost, but we are still producing,” he said. “There was that increased cost for importing, and the cost of energy for the process of hatching. An incubator is really creating a warm room using a lot of electricity and fans and those costs were passed on to the poultry growers.”

Chick prices have risen slightly to cover higher import and utility costs. To remain resilient, the hatcheries now source eggs from both the United States and Europe.

But disease remains the primary threat regional poultry production, he said. “Our biggest concern would be if there was avian influenza in a particular area where we get our hatching eggs,” Layne explained, adding that suppliers mitigate this risk by geographically dispersing breeder farms to prevent total operational shutdowns.

To ensure long-term resilience and protect domestic food security, the government and private industry maintain continuous dialogue through a dedicated inter-agency panel.

“We are in constant communication with the Ministry of Agriculture,” Layne said. “They set up a special committee called the marketing committee for poultry that we review on a regular basis and discuss all these things.”

Supply chains for essential feed inputs also remain resilient. Feed manufacturer Pinnacle Feeds continues to satisfy domestic livestock requirements without supply interruption following recent plant-efficiency upgrades.

Shifting dynamics in global grain markets – including reduced buying activity from major international markets such as China – have kept US corn and soy exports accessible to smaller Caribbean buyers, though Layne noted that ongoing monitoring of American farm profitability remains crucial.

Far from anticipating domestic chicken shortages, the association president expressed measured optimism regarding the sector’s long-term trajectory. With expanded processing capacity and improved hatchery efficiency, Barbados is repositioning itself towards potential market expansion across the wider region.

“Our capacity for producing is up,” he said. “Because of the increased capacity within the poultry sector, we are looking at exports anytime soon. We will look at CARICOM initially, and certainly like the cruise ships.”

While higher domestic labour costs present a structural challenge when competing against low-cost global producers such as Brazil, Layne stressed that for now, with well-managed supply lines and active monitoring, Barbadian consumers can expect consistent availability at the retail level. (RR)