By Damion Mitchell, Farmers Weekly Co-ordinator
Andrew Gentles with his champion Graded Boer (under two-year-old category) at the Denbigh Agri-Industrial Show in Clarendon last year. - Contributed
IN 1998, at the age of eight, Andrew Marc Gentles from Lowe River, south Trelawny, attended the Denbigh Agri-Industrial Show in Clarendon for the first time.
There were hundreds of exhibits at the event, but for him, the most fascinating were the goats. So much so that he made a silent wish to enter goat farming and to return to Denbigh the next year, not as a spectator but as a goat farmer.
Four months later, he got a graded Nubian doe as a Christmas gift from his father, a former Trelawny champion farmer. and in August 1999 he exhibited the animal called 'Onions' at the Denbigh Show and won the second place award in the Graded Nubian doe under one-year-old category.
Since then Andrew, 14, has made other entries and has won numerous other titles, including first place in the graded Boer category last year.
He told Farmers Weekly that although he did not cop the top prize on his first attempt, his achievement was significant. "It was my first time as a competitor, and it was rough. The pen was flooded out the night before (the judging of the animals), the mosquitoes were wicked, and I had to sleep with 'Onions' in her pen," he recalled. However, he said that the show was exciting.
With the assistance of his father, Hugh Gentles, and brother, Jaime, Andrew started a goat-rearing project in Trelawny the same year and currently he has more than 20 goats, including Nubians and Boers.
He said that although he grew up on his father's Glastonbury Farm where bananas and coffee were cultivated for export, he was never interested in cultivating crops. "I was always convincing my father and mother (Carol Gentles) to buy some sort of animal for me," he said, adding that "I would get an animal like a cow, and then sell it to get money to buy a donkey, or rabbits."
But goat rearing is 'not really' a money-making venture for Andrew as he does not have enough goats to make large profits and the revenues from sales are spent on funding the animals' health care.
He encourages other young persons to become engaged in goat-rearing but cautions that it was very challenging. "For one farming is not really considered a cool thing to do. But, I think that you have to decide what really makes you feel good about yourself," he said.
In September, Andrew, who is dyslexic, sold some of his goats before leaving the island to attend a special school in Florida where he will be studying for the next four years. However, on his return he plans to resume the activities.
"Sometimes children who are not so good at school feel they are failures, but when you do other activities like this, you can succeed even with a learning disability," said the young champion who has also won several titles at the Hague Agricultural Show.
