By The Star Staff
Manuel Enrique Martínez Arbona, the president of the Puerto Rican Farmers Association’s Milk Sector, said Tuesday that raw milk production on the island is 14% lower compared to last year.
The decline is attributed primarily to a decrease in the inventory of cows in the production line.
“First, a marked decrease in the conception rate of cows due to the increase in temperatures last year and this year, has reduced the number of births in the herds,” Martínez Arbona said in a written statement. “Second, the drop in the purchase of cows due to the increase in their cost in the continental United States and the closure of this market due to bird flu since April. And third, a drop in milk production due to the lack of quality ingredients to formulate balanced diets.”
To address the situation, since September 2023, the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and the PR Milk Producers Cooperative (COOPPLE by its initials in Spanish) developed the Tropically Adapted Genetic Transformation Program (ProGen PR), which seeks to improve reproductive management on dairy farms and offers a $400 incentive for guaranteed 90-day pregnancies.
Likewise, the Department of Agriculture implemented an equitable payment system for dairy farmers in 2022, which has favorably impacted producers, with an average payment of 90.25 cents per quart of raw milk, in addition to incentives for quality and added value that exceeded $6.2 million in the past 12 months.
Since 2021, COOPPLE has also implemented the 100% Free Grazing Program to reduce the carbon footprint, certify soil and water conservation practices, and improve the quality of production under tropical conditions, Martínez Arbona noted.
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