Should the drought in the US persist, it will be doom and gloom for Trinidad and Tobago, president of the Sheep and Goat Farmers' Association Shiraz Khan said yesterday. He said limestone was the only by-product not imported to make up animal feed. He said it cost $1.40 for one pound of feed and anticipated that in the next shipment the price would increase by 50 per cent.
"If we do get, it will be black market price," he said. Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, in an online report said the ongoing drought in the US midwest has affected 80 per cent of the US corn crop and more than 11 per cent of the soybean crop, triggering a rise in global food prices. She said it may fuel political instability in developing countries.
Coleman added that the US produces approximately 35 per cent of the world's corn and soybean supply, commodities that were "crucial in the food chain, because they are used for feed stock for animals." Khan said if the drought persists there will be serious repercussions. He said: "I know what I am going to face if I can't get feed in a few months." He blamed the past and current administrations for their disregard for the livestock and agriculture sectors.
"It only takes a crisis to get it right," he said. Khan said when Caroni (1975) Ltd was up and running, farmers were able to source several by-products to make up feed but its closure has had a serious impact on the livestock sector. "We now have to import molasses. Back then we used to get bagasse and also benefitted from good quality grass in the canefields which had fertilisers and nutrients," he explained.
Khan said sheep, goats and cows should not be treated like vegetables. He said it took approximately two years for sheep and goat to get into large production, two years for milk production from cows and another year for beef production. "Livestock has been neglected," he said yesterday. He said while the country had not reached a "critical" stage as yet with the impact of the drought, it is still a worrying situation.
