New milking parlour to boost milk production

Dressed in a gold floral print dress accentuated with a black hat, 84-year-old farmer Maisie Mignott sat upright in the front row with laser-like focus as a newly established milking parlour was unveiled in her hometown of Hillside, St Thomas.

The parlour and supporting facilities has been established to allow small farmers to milk their cows in a more comfortable environment. It will allow farmers to produce better quality milk and make it easier for them to sell to Seprod to make milk-based products.

Like many farmers in the community, Mignott, who has two cows, was excited about the establishment of the milking parlour.

"It good, everyone come together it make it easier together fi do everything," Mignott said.

The milking parlour was officially declared opened on Tuesday by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green. Prior to the parlour being built, farmers had to milk their cows under trees and sheds. The new facilities can accommodate up to six cows at a time, and provides opportunities for the animals to eat during the milking process. Experts have found that cows produce better quality milk when they are comfortable.

With the new facilities in place, farmers will longer have to take the milk to the nearby Serge Island factory to sell because the company will be collecting the milk from the parlour's storage tank.

Devon Parkins, 33, is a third generation farmer. He told THE STAR that the milking parlour will make a major difference when he and his farmer have to milk their 30 cows.

"It benefit a lot of people, make it more easier for us to get the milk out of the cow and it convenient," Parkins said.

Chairman of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board, Dr Derrick Deslandes, said the milking parlour is essential as the current way of transporting the milk makes no sense.

"On a couple of my visits to Serge, I noted, for example, that the farmers were riding on bikes and bicycles with the buckets of milk to the factory which, to me, makes no sense," Deslandes said.

He added that the parlour has the potential to "bring milk back to where it used to be" because Jamaica is far behind in milk production. Each local cow produces on average 8.3 litres a day, which is paltry compared to other territories.

"The average in Israel is 43 litres, in North America 38 litres, in UK 32 litres... . You see how far behind we are, and probably the reason is we have not embraced technology in a way that we need to from the small to the medium to the larger farmers," Deslandes said. He said the industry is changing and more companies are coming on board to invest and strengthen the industry.

Green said the comfort of the cow is critical to the production of milk.

"This milking parlour will give you a much more comfortable environment for cows to be milked in," the minister said.