By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorTHE MINISTRY of Agriculture will today be meeting with poultry farmers and representatives of the island's main suppliers of chicken meat, Jamaica Broilers and Caribbean Broilers, to address what the farmers see as a major crisis facing the poultry industry.
The farmers say that for years the companies have been enjoying "a monopoly" at their expense, dictating to them terms and conditions which, they say, had brought many farmers to the brink of bankruptcy. The two broiler companies have, however, denied the claim, saying they have arrangements with the farmers whereby, as in any business deal, conditions would have to be applied and whereby their interests are protected.
"The industry is having serious problems and the authorities are aware of this," says Headly Brown, president of the island's Poultry Farmers' Association. "We have an arrangement with the two processing companies where they provide us with baby chicks, feed and medicine in exchange for rearing the chickens for them. The agreement also has a no-switch clause where you can only deal with one company, not both at the same time... they have both agreed on that.
"Now they are asking farmers to invest in excess of $10 million to build tunnel ventilation houses which they say will speed up the rearing process. The trouble is that the returns do not justify the investment and the companies have farmers at their mercy."
Mr. Brown said that the two companies decide on what to pay the farmers, claiming they have "no say in the matter." They are in total control."
"Sometimes what farmers get cannot pay the bills but only enough to keep hanging on. The companies have now instituted an incentive programme where only the farmers who produce exceptional yields benefit. Right now, only about 30 per cent of farmers can pay their bills; the other 70 per cent can't. An average performer will not get back the amount of money to cover his cost. The processing companies have manipulated the system where there is no transparency and fairness and which is why we have sought the meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture," Mr. Brown said.
Conroy Salman, assistant vice-president of marketing at Jamaica Broilers, in noting that "farming was a tough business," said all his company was doing was to ensure that farmers were as efficient as they could possibly be. "I know there is a meeting today but I am not aware of the specifics," he said. "In any industry you will battle costs and the farming sector is no exception. What we have now is a younger generation of farmers coming in and a lot of the older ones dropping out."
Asked to explain the reason for this, he said: "We are into a whole new technology as far as chicken-rearing goes. We have moved from the rather primitive days to where things are now computer-generated. Yes, we have asked them to go by way of the tunnel ventilated houses where chickens can be processed in six weeks as opposed to the months they used to take. We have to go where technology takes us. All we ask for is efficiency. There are some farmers who will tell you that they are making more money now than they have ever made before."
Mr. Salman adds that his company was aware of the difficulties facing some farmers but noted that "there are constraints that we face too." He said that as in the United States, if farming were to be subsidised, it would greatly assist farmers. "If interest rates were reduced it would help the situation," he said. "Farming is a tough game which is why it is so heavily subsidised overseas."
