Dairy farmers have one less thing to worry about thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining’s Equipment Lease Programme. The programme, which is a part of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board’s Dairy Livestock Innovation and Nutrition Programme (DLINK), seeks to resolve the issue of access to modern, high-quality equipment for dairy production.
Speaking at the launch function and handover ceremony on Thursday, November 28, at the Knockalva Polytechnic College in Hanover, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said the equipment will make dairy production, especially for small dairy farmers, less labour intensive and more productive.
“Often times those farmers when they hand milk, they only milk one time per day. Now, with our mobile milkers, we have seen our farmers milk two times per day; that mean you are already doubling your income from the same animal. So, we are moving in that direction,” the minister outlined.
He adds that the equipment will also provide dairy farmers with the opportunity to expand their enterprises.
“The harvester moves you from harvesting an acre of grass in what would take people, unfortunately, days to literally minutes. Think about the efficiency, think about the return on investment, think about the fact that time is money,” Green pointed out.
The agriculture minister shared that the Ministry invested over 20 million dollars to acquire the equipment which he says will be provided to farmers on a preferential lease basis.
He notes that the Ministry will be providing 15 mobile milking machines, 11 milk cooling tanks and a harvester.
Minister Green also pointed out that revitalization of dairy sector cannot be achieved without investment in equipment and that this is just the start of the efforts to increase access to equipment.
“We are also going to look a model, once we have sufficient equipment, where farmers can lease to purchase. Originally you don’t have the resources to buy the equipment upfront, we will give you on lease, work out a plan where overtime you can lease until you have the money to purchase that equipment so that you can continue to modernise your operations,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Minister Green said a sustainable dairy industry requires focus on strengthening educational institutions.
“It doesn’t make sense we are providing equipment to farmers and then when those farmers leave there is nobody to take over that mantle,” the agriculture minister said.
He highlighted the importance of educational institutions having training programmes that will equip students with the capacity to service, maintain, program and fix modern dairy equipment.
“We can say to our farmers we can also provide you with the maintenance support that you need, and we can send these students from Knockalva out to fix these [kinds of] equipment and make a good return on their education,” Green explained.
The minister said that outside of providing equipment, the Ministry has been providing support to bolster the capacity of educational institutions.
He emphasised support provided to the Knockalva Polytechnic College which includes the planting of 10 acres of grass to provide high-quality forage for livestock; the training of 15 students in the use of mobile milking machines and the provision of a Jersey service bull, valued at $250,000, to enhance genetic stock and productivity in local herds.
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