DIFFERENT CULTURES, COMMON GOAL

Rick Ellerbrock, Eastern Training Service Program Manager, Select Sires Inc.

In fall of 2022, I was approached by Dr. Gabrielle Young and Dr. Patrick Craig from Nutramix, a Select Sires distributor in Jamaica, about doing some A.I. training. We settled on the end of January for the three-day session with 15 students.

Training the trainers

Among this class of individuals, a few were farm employees, however the majority were from government and university entities taking the class in order to grow their knowledge and skills of reproductive management through cattle artificial insemination. During the three-day course we went over anatomy and physiology, A.I. technique, semen handling, estrus synchronization and heat detection. They then planned to return to their parishes, communities, or educational institutions to serve as teachers for other farmers and students. In a sense, the goal was to equip these students with the necessary expertise that would enable them to work in a similar fashion to university extension offices in the U.S. – as a key resource for information, education and training.

It goes without saying that Jamaica, being an island, is heavily dependent on importation of food. Nutramix, along with different government and university partners, have set the important goal of helping the agricultural community improve production efficiency, lessening the island’s dependence on imports and building food security for the Jamaican people. With this goal in mind, it becomes imperative that genetic and reproductive management improve as it directly

Learning about the culture

I didn’t see the typical corn, beans and wheat rotation in the fields, but rather pastures and grazing cows. We visited several dairies while on the island. Most of the dairies milked Jamaican Hope cows. These cattle look very similar to the Jersey breed but were developed to be better acclimated to the island’s climate. Many Jamaican dairies utilize these island-bred genetics. The expected daily milk yield for a Jamaican Hope cow is around 8 liters, or 2.11 gallons, per day on grass. Nutramix put together a technical team, similar to Select Sires’ Select Reproductive Solutions ® (SRS ®) teams, that works with dairy farmers to improve management and genetics. Between the Select Sires genetics and the Nutramix team we should expect to see significant improvement in production over the coming years.

Trips like these tend to put a lot into perspective. Food insecurity is an issue facing many regions around the globe. We might take common dairy management practices for granted, but in many parts of the world, this is new information. It is a humbling experience to share this knowledge through such training opportunities. Select Sires is grateful to work with international partners, including Nutramix, to equip families with the genetics, services and knowledge to feed their communities. u