Pig farmers squeal for help
Want import permits frozen as sales plummet
STATE MINISTER Floyd Green is to present the case of disgruntled pig farmers who are seeking assistance to cover the monthly storage cost for pork surplus given the significant cut in sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is scheduled to meet with Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw and Permanent Secretary Dermon Spence this morning.
The farmers are reportedly seeking a subvention of at least $500,000-$750,000 per month from the ministry for storage costs.
The Jamaica Pig Farmers Association (JPFA) wrote to Shaw on April 7 and is reportedly anxious over the delay in consultation.
Green told The Gleaner yesterday that he had been in discussion with members of the pig farmers’ executive up to last Thursday and had requested more information. He declined committing to any assistance until a meeting was held to examine their request and the implications for the industry.
CEASE ISSUANCE OF IMPORT PERMITS
The JPFA has reached an agreement with at least three pork processers to store meat until the market recovers. Those stakeholders have stopped processing pork because of the fallout in sales triggered by the closure of hotels, jerk centres, and restaurants.
Meanwhile, the association has taken a number of other steps to address the market shortage, including a formal request that the agriculture minister cease the issuance of import permits for pork and pork products. It has also advised members to cut back on breeding and production until current stock is stored or sold.
The pig farmers estimate that at least 68 per cent of the 150,000kg of pork produced before the COVID-19 pandemic hit went to the tourism sector, processors, and jerk centres. The shutdown has seen a significant reduction in demand, with processors going into hibernation as their markets have also taken a beating.
In recent times, the JPFA has accused the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries of neglecting the industry, with President Annabelle Williams leading that charge at a regional meeting in Mandeville in February.
“In the 2019-2021 Government Policy Paper, there is news on marijuana, news on goats, news on sheep, news on everything else, but not a squeal about pigs,” Williams said.
“We are not being heard, and so it is important that we collaborate more because if we don’t, then we are on our own.”
The association is again raising these concerns in light of a number of ministry initiatives across the island to offload surplus supplies of eggs, fruits, vegetables, and ground provision, while pig farmers have been unable to get their case heard.