September 3, 2007

Hurricane Dean a huge blow to Jamaican poultry industry
 

Hurricane Dean, which swept through the Caribbean two weeks ago, has carved a path of destruction across Jamaica's poultry sector.

Hurricane Dean was judged to be the ninth most intense hurricane to cross the Atlantic ever since records were kept.

More than 100,000 day-old chicks were destroyed last week as farmers affected by the Category Four hurricane were unable to purchase poultry from hatcheries, says Jamaica Livestock Association CEO, Henry J. Rainford,

Thousands of poultry farmers islandwide also lost their livestock, coops and other equipment.

Rainford said that without these equipment, farmers were unable to return to farming and producers of day-old-chicks have nowhere to place the chicks.

The 100,000 day-old chicks lost makes up approximately 30-40 percent of the country's broiler industry.

Rainford has asked for government to finance poultry farmers to rebuild coops and purchase equipment and chicken feed.

The poultry industry would make a quick recovery if they can get assistance, Rainford said, estimating it would take about eight weeks for the situation to get back to normal if the government responds.

Prices of poultry are expected to go up due to this incident.