Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Christopher Tufton, who launched the programme at the Bodles Research Station in St Catherine on Wednesday, said since 1978, there has been no recording of milk production in Jamaica. This development has coincided with a loss of productivity in the national herd.
The recording programme, he said, will help to increase milk production in Jamaica by allowing for the collection and processing of production data to register peaks, consistency, changes and trends that influence herd efficiency, which will guide farmers in selecting the best milk producers.
early disease detection
Tufton said data will also allow for early disease detection, intervention and protection and help farmers to detect reproductive trends to assess milk quality and isolate problems early.
He noted that the data collected will also enable farmers to make more timely switches to beef production.
"Overall, farmers will be better able to maintain herds of happy cows to drive increased levels of local food production in the interest of the health of our people and reduced dependence on imports," the minister stated.
two-year agreement
To support the herd recording programme, an initial two-year agreement has been procured with the North Carolina State University in the United States for online access to its dairy records management system; the processing of data collected locally; and generation of a monthly report to create a local database and guide farmers.
Computers and milk meters were distributed to farmers at the launch.
The dairy herd recording Programme is among several initiatives undertaken by the ministry over the last year to revitalise the dairy sector. A total of 14 livestock officers have been employed to assist farmers with animal husbandry and animal health and they will also assist with data collection for the herd recording programme.