Egg and poultry leader outlines plan to unify small farmers

Small poultry farmers in Barbados, long trapped in a cycle of oversupply and shortage driven by fragmented operations and price wars, have been given a plan to unite to be more competitive and lucrative.

William Brathwaite, incoming president of the Egg and Poultry Association, said the solution lies in organising independent producers under a single brand and moving into niche markets where they can compete on uniqueness rather than volume.

At the election of new members of the Pig Farmers Association, Brathwaite told reporters his main goal was to change the industry from a scattered, confusing situation into a highly organised and business-like system. He declared his intent to empower independent farmers so they are no longer left vulnerable to sudden market changes and tough competition that can force them out of business.

For many years, Brathwaite said, the poultry industry has suffered because small producers have not worked together. This long history of division is the main reason local growers face so many financial struggles, he said.

He described a situation in which individual farmers compete for the same space in shops, ultimately hurting their own pockets: “Small farmers have been fragmented for years from the time they began.”

He highlighted the confusion caused by having “10, 15 different people going to the same supermarket trying to sell the products and cutting one another”.

This competition, he said, lowers prices and creates major instability for everyone in the business.

This ongoing instability traps farmers in a painful cycle of having too much chicken and then not enough. When independent farmers undercut each other’s prices, the financial pressure forces many to quit farming completely.

“When the small farmers start to feel the pinch, they stop growing chickens,” he said. This sudden stop quickly changes the market, turning a period of oversupply into a severe shortage.

Furthermore, once these farmers leave, coming back is very hard.

“They find great difficulty in getting back into the market.”

To stop this damaging cycle, the incoming president plans to bring these independent farmers together under one single brand.

This will create a “more organised way of doing business” that guarantees stability and gives them a stronger voice.

While Brathwaite was clear about his main goals for the association, he kept his specific future plans close to his chest, pointing to what he described as the advantage larger companies have in quickly implementing new ideas.

“We have some other initiatives which I don’t want to really speak about yet,” he said. “Because the problems are that you speak about things, other people hear them, and they can act faster than you… and then you realise they have your plans already implemented because they have big pockets.”

Rather than fighting a losing battle against massive corporations, Brathwaite’s plan is to beat them by moving into completely new areas. He believes small farmers can only survive and do well if they offer customers something totally different.

“There’s no strength to fight the big players in the conventional areas of the industry,” he said. Instead, he will focus on fresh ideas and standing out from the crowd. “We want to create some new areas, new products into the industry so that we would be kind of unique for our small farmers,” he said, indicating a shift towards special, niche markets where being small and unique is a big advantage.

Looking at immediate concerns like severe heat stress on poultry, Brathwaite revealed a far different state of the industry than in the last two years, saying that death rates among birds have not been as bad as previously.

“I haven’t got as much complaints… about many people losing birds this year as they did last year,” he said. But this was not because farmers were better at beating the heat rather, many farmers have temporarily stopped growing birds altogether.

This slowdown in production was in response to a poultry glut.

Farmers have paused their work to make sure they are ready for the most profitable time of the year.

“Every farmer wants to have birds for Christmas,” Brathwaite explained. If they had tried to raise new birds right after the recent oversupply, their chickens would have been ready at the wrong time and missed the big holiday rush. Because of this, most small farmers have stayed out of the market on purpose, waiting for the right time to start raising their holiday chickens.

Brathwaite expects a massive increase in activity in the last quarter of the year, confirming that the association was already seeing members getting ready.

“We noticed that there’s increased orders for… after the middle of October, so we will see an increase in production.”

He pointed out that while October is still hot — which is actually good for young chicks — the birds will be fully grown during much better weather. “When you’re ready for market, it would be the coolest time of the year,” he said, making sure the upcoming holiday supply will be strong and very well organised.

(RR)