George Henry, Gleaner Writer
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
GLENDON ROY McDonald, 46, of Sanguinetti in Clarendon North-West, has been rearing chickens for more than 25 years.
A trained printer, Mr. McDonald, had abandoned his job of fifteen years to fulfil his desire to operate his own printery just over two decades ago. But his inability to purchase costly printing equipment forced him into chicken rearing.
Mr. McDonald, who began his 'career' with only fifty birds, currently raises more than 900 birds the result of what he said was a professional approach to agriculture in an environment that was conducive to business. But he said that with an increase in the costs for baby chicks, feeds and medication, and that with the competition from imported chicken meat, livestock rearing has become very challenging.
"The imported chicken meat in particular, has made chicken farming difficult. Because the imported meat is much cheaper, consumers go for that and the local farmers like myself are virtually out of business," he said.
To further compound the situation, Mr. McDonald said that he has been incurring costs of up to $5,000 to purchase water to use on his farm, as there was a scarcity of the commodity in his community.
Against this background, Mr. McDonald said it was important that farmers identify adequate markets for their chickens before rearing them, to ensure optimal levels of profitability.
