On Sunday March 12th, East Caribbean Feeds, manufactured and distributed by East Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC), hosted its inaugural Farm Management Town Hall at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, in Barbados.
Close to fifty livestock (50) farmers had the opportunity to learn about Livestock Management, Animal Nutrition, and On-Farm Best Management Practices from Veterinarian and expert Technical Product Manager at ECGC, Dr. Tahomma Richards.
East Caribbean Feeds created this Town Hall session to educate Livestock Farmers and engage in collaborative discussions about practical and easy to implement biosecurity guidelines. She discussed the importance of dedicated farm clothing and shoes as well as constant sanitizing, washing of hands and feet which are effective in limiting the transmission of harmful diseases.
Dr. Richards, also a trained Zootechnician, further advised farmers on ensuring best practices related to animal feeds and water. She discussed the importance of scheduled timely feeding and the nutrition derived from Feeds. She mentioned that East Caribbean Feeds boasts a variety of over twenty-six (26) different types of feeds for animals such Broilers, Layers, Pigs, Ruminants including The Black Belly Sheep,
Horses and Rabbits. She went on to explain to farmers the fact that East Caribbean Feeds uses top quality grains and have no antibiotics, hormones, nor animal by products, therefore providing maximum nutrition for animals. East Caribbean Feeds are nutritiously balanced to support best yields and animal health.
Farmers were educated on the importance and often overlooked necessity of securing clean water supply for animals. That is, consider if you wouldn’t drink the water then it may not be good enough for your animals. She shared tips such as providing shade for your animal water supply and even adding buckets of ice to the water supply to keep it cool during the especially hot summer months. Animals need to keep cool and heated water does not help in support of healthy animals.
Farmers used the opportunity to network and share ideas on main challenges faced on their farms. They capitalized on accessing one on one sessions with Dr. Tahomma to field specific questions and answers about their animals and farms.
Farmers left with increased knowledge on Farm Management, brochures and well-received gifts such as farm aprons, raincoats and East Caribbean Feeds courtesy of Distributor Garry and Joshua Corbin of Walkes Spring Feeds located in St. Thomas.
East Caribbean Feeds will continue to host these Farm Management Town Hall sessions throughout this year on route to supporting the development of Livestock Farmers and Food Sustainability across the OECS and Caribbean.
