Friday, February 22, 2008Fat Returns

Sachkia BarnesA local livestock farmer shares his success story

Traditionally, the British Virgin Islands has been an agricultural community. Like most Caribbean islands, farming and the culture of its people were once inseparable. Older Virgin Islanders recall shipping days when BVI farmers gathered their goods and set sail for the United States Virgin Islands. Upon approaching, stories tell us that our fellow US Virgin Islanders lined the docks waiting to receive the fresh produce and meats that would feed their families.

As time progressed and societies the world over turned to a more industrial way of living, the British Virgin Islands also made the transition from an agricultural based economy, to one which could more readily sustain an expanding population. Some might say that during this time, the agricultural industry in the Territory was neglected. Families moved away from farming and embraced the financial services and tourism sectors. Today however, BVIslanders are returning to the agricultural industry on an even greater scale than before. Farmers around the BVI have gotten the much-needed support to look at the agricultural industry as big business and not just a weekend backyard activity. This is allowing them to expand their services and take their profits straight to the bank.

More and more, farmers are seeking to supply the masses with their produce, livestock and catch. Farmers such as Renardis “Aukie” Donovan-Fahie have planted acres of fruits and vegetables that are supplied to the every day cooks, restaurants and supermarkets throughout the BVI chain of islands. Khoy Smith, a young entrepreneur, is the proprietor of Prophies Farm, a chicken processing plant based on Tortola. Smith assists fellow poultry farmers in the processing and sale of their products to supermarkets. Kevin Grey is leading a handful of commercial fishermen in the BVI in supplying the Territory with a local and tourist favourite; lobsters.

Homegrown Pork

In recent years, the Territory has seen a resurgence of investment in livestock, specifically hog farming. Through the agricultural lands, leased by Government to BVI farmers at Paraquita Bay, Tortola, Bryan Hodge owns and operates a state of the art hog farm that delivers prime pork to supermarkets and restaurants, territory wide. Hodge says he got started in hog farming quite by accident. After he was given a piglet by an elder gentleman, with some care and good attention, he was surprised to see how quickly the animal grew to market size, which is usually 150 pounds. “From then I was hooked,” he says. Being hooked for the past four years has led Hodge to three consecutive titles of, BVI Best Pig Farmer, beginning in 2005. This award is given annually by the Government’s Agriculture Department after surveying all farms throughout the Territory.

Daily, Hodge, his son, brother and nephew can be found in the early hours of the mornings and late afternoons tending to his pigs. He says his family has greatly benefited from their dedication to livestock farming. “If it wasn’t for my farm, I don’t know where I would be. This [farm] has really saved my family,” he notes.

His farm houses an average of 150 pigs per month. In order to produce Grade-A pork Hodge has learned that it requires a great deal of time and willingness to keep up with leading farming trends. He acknowledges that advancing to modern day hog farming happened because of good timing and channel surfing. While browsing through his satellite television channels, Hodge was watching an agricultural station where Ray Moorman, a third generation hog farmer from Georgia, USA was making a presentation. “After watching the programme, I called Ray Moorman, and purchased 21 pigs from him, and we just took off from there,” Hodge reminisces with a gleam in his eyes.

Within four months, Hodge saw the potential of hog farming in the BVI because of the demand and the earnings in his pocket. “Of all animals, pigs will give you the fastest return for your money. As long as the animal is well taken care of, it reaches market weight within four months, and in just over three months time, one sow can give you up to fifteen piglets,” he says almost boasting. His 400 x 103 square foot hog farm is easily one of the best-suited livestock farms in the Virgin Islands. Pigs used for reproduction are housed separately in 11x7 ft pens. Hodge knows that in order for him to have superior meat that will really compete on the market and put money in his pocket, the time and care of the facility, and most importantly its residents are priority. Pens are outfitted with special flooring that allows waste from the animals to flow into a separate unit, which also makes cleaning the animals much more efficient.

From birth to the day the animal is taken to the abattoir, Hodge pays close attention to its care and development. Monthly, Hodge imports a shipping container of feed for the animals. They are fed twice a day - ten bags of feed per day for growing pigs and thirty-two bags per day of natural corn and soy for animals preparing to go to market. All animals are vaccinated early on and de-wormed regularly. Employing modern methods, the pigs are artificially inseminated with sperm bought from an internationally recognised United States based company. The company sells naturally produced semen from some of the best breed of pigs, to farmers throughout the world. For a finer quality of meat, Hodge uses the Duroc, Yorkshire and Landrace breed of pigs. Once sows are impregnated and breed strong boars, those boars are then used to impregnate other pigs. To ensure all piglets have the potential to be healthy and strong market pigs, the boars are usually assisted in the breeding process.

The sophistication of Hodge’s farm operation is one to admire. Insemination and births are well synchronised and labour is often induced for pregnant sows. Each month, over thirty piglets are born, easily replacing slaughtered animals. Like a fine tuned instrument, pigs are slaughtered, new ones born and a continuous cycle fuels the livestock market.

Let's Talk Numbers

On average, Mr. Hodge sells approximately 5,200 pounds of pork each month. The cost per pound varies, with the current average price around $3.00 per pound. Because of the care taken to ensure that the animals are at their best health, Hodge reports that he is able to utilise 80% of each pig for sales. In comparison to other livestock, that alone puts his pigs ahead of the game. All meats sold are Government inspected and approved before reaching supermarket shelves. So how much does it cost to run such a sophisticated operation? According to Hodge, he spends an average of $132,000 annually to maintain his farm. When you factor in the farms average income, Hodge’s farm keeps him above the red line with the potential for even greater profits.

With the food market moving towards more organic based foods, health watchers should be particularly interested in Hodge’s pigs which are home-grown and fed a fine selection of naturally grown feed. Restaurants serving a higher end clientele such as Necker Island Resort, Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda and Norman Island are paying close attention to the needs of their customers and often visit Hodge’s farm to select their desired animal for pig roasts and other special occasions. Hodge admits that he faces competition from farmers throughout the world, as some local supermarkets sometimes prefer to import pork rather than patronise local farmers. Nevertheless he says he is encouraged that he is providing a quality service to his community and hopes to one day have BVI farmers as the sole suppliers of meats sold in the BVI. “I would like to see other farmers in the BVI take up the challenge and bring their farms to this level and even better. We need to stop importing meat that can be grown right here in the BVI and that is what my family and I are hoping to contribute to,” says Hodge.

Hodge has already cleared land to expand his operations. By the end of 2007 he should have doubled the size of his farm. With this expansion, he is looking forward to improving the use of technology, building cisterns to improve the farms water supply and add automatic feed dispensers, which will decrease the need to manually add feed to each pigpen. As the market for locally grown meat expands, Hodge is working hard to ensure that he strengthens his business to meet those demands.

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