By Sheria Brathwaite
The Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA) will soon be putting forward a proposal to Pinnacle Feeds to help 100 small farmers grapple with feed costs.
BEPPA president Stephen Layne told Barbados TODAY that after membership meetings, the association agreed that small farmers could see significant savings if they got together and bought feed in bulk.
Referring to this strategy as a volume discount, he explained that larger players in the industry were already benefiting from such arrangements and BEPPA wanted to work out a similar deal for its members.
“We want to have a conversation with them about if we could arrange some volume discounts for the smaller farmers but there would have to be a programme to proceed with that, so it is inconclusive at this time. Small farmers order feed as individuals, they buy mostly bagged feed. So under normal conditions, they would not be entitled to a volume discount like the farmers who are buying tonnes of feed every time they order.
“So we are trying to see how we can pool their resources together under one name and have an arrangement done. This hasn’t been agreed to as yet but Pinnacle is in a frame of mind that they are willing to help out wherever possible. So the logistics of this would have to be worked out,” Layne said.
He added that the benefits of the volume discount would not be realised immediately but in the long run.
Layne said the association was hoping to meet with Pinnacle soon about the arrangement, adding that he was confident it would be agreed to.
The move by BEPPA follows last month’s announcement by the island’s lone livestock and poultry feed manufacturer that it was going to drop the price of its offerings by two per cent due to modest reductions in grain prices internationally.
Layne said that while the price reduction was welcomed, it did not have a significant impact on the overall cost of feed.
In June, reliable sources informed Barbados TODAY that a $22 million feed plant was being constructed in Coral Ridge, Christ Church.
Asked if the management of that operation had reached out to BEPPA, Layne said: “We are waiting and we are looking forward to seeing what type of relationship they will have with farmers in general. I think Pinnacle is doing the best that they can in terms of pricing but we are looking forward to seeing what this new company can do to help with costs.
“If there is competition and it brings the prices down, it will be a win for farmers, but I am not sure if it will work out like that. We don’t grow any of the inputs needed to make feed like soybean or corn, so we don’t have any say in the price of these things that constitute the pricing of the feed. But some farmers have expressed that they are looking forward to trying it.”
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