WESTERN BUREAU: IN DETERMINING profitability of any agriculture pursuit there must be some minimum production point at which efficiency is marked and viability of that pursuit determined. In crop production, measurements such as per cent germination, crop yield, and yield/ hectare are some values by which to assess the success of the crop. In livestock rearing, parameters such as fecundity, birth weight and growth rate, age of first offspring, survival rate of offspring, lactation length and milk production in dairy farming are reference points used to evaluate returns or losses.
Whereas in crop production where precious little can be done to restore a poor growing crop, livestock farmers are allowed the opportunity to correct adverse situations and to re-establish production levels through changes in the management of the herd or flock. Research findings, farm practice, and marketing information have helped the livestock industry to establish benchmark production points or parameters as the guide by which farmers can determine viability. These parameters are closer to the minimum standard of production, above which the farmers should aim to achieve. The Jamaica livestock industry, mainly through the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock division, has set the basic production target from which the farmers, through breeding and feeding programmes, and proper management, should help to raise the bar of efficiency and production. Farmers Weekly solicited the assistance of livestock industry specialists as our effort to re-emphasise these minimal standard, parameter or "technical co-efficient" which are established for the dairy and beef cattle, goat, pigs and poultry rearing for the benefit of our livestock farmers.
Beginning with the Dairy industry, Dr. Paul Jennings, Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board, provides the following parameters, the ideal and current measurements, that are obtained on (pasture) ranges found in Jamaica for Jamaica Hope dairy cattle production.
Parameter
Ideal Situation
Current Situation
Age of 1st Calving (months)
24
34
1st Lactation yield (litres)
2,724
Lactation Length (days)
305
280
Calving Interval (months)
12
13.2
Services per conception
1.3
1.6 - 2.2
% cows in milk
85
75 - 80
Calf mortality rate (%)
5
10 - 20
Average Age of 1st matin
15
21 - 27
Second Lactation Yield of the Jamaica Hope Cow - 2,724 litres + 5-8 per cent increase. Current cost of an in-calf heifer - $20,000-$25,000 and the current A-grade milk price - $22.14 per litre.
According to Dr. Jennings, in 2000, the local dairy industry produced 25,459,148 litres of fresh milk while consumption of milk and milk products measured 152.8 million litres.
Summary: The ideal situation is that the farmers must improve his or her dairy management operation so as to have heifers being bred at 15 months to calve at 24 months old (2 years) and this heifer should, in the 305 days lactation period, produce 2,724 litres of milk. The second calf should be born alive expected of 12 months after the first. Eighty-five per cent of the dairy herd should not be milking at any one time.
