Briefing
Corner
Enhancing
Sustainable Dairy Production Capacity in Cuba
Canada-Cuba Farmer to
Farmer
Project
IN
MAY 2007, THIS PROJECT WAS AWARDED
The
2007 AMEC Award for
Sustainable Development of Natural Resources
or Protection of the
Environment at CIDA/CME's
15th Annual
Canadian Awards for International Cooperation
Fredericton, New Brunswick...
CLICK
HERE for MEDIA RELEASE
"Perfect Pedestals" - CPA 26 Julio,
January 1, 2010
BREAKING NEWS!
WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW...
CLICK BELOW to receive our JUST RELEASED (December 2011) report on our
August 2011 Project Visit
AUGUST
2011 REPORT (English)
REPORTE AGUSTO 2011 (Espagnol)
CLICK BELOW to receive our
JANUARY 2011 Report
JANUARY
REPORT (English)
JANUARY
REPORT (Spanish)
CLICK
HERE to go to the Sustainable Cities
website and watch a Project
Video
CLICK HERE to read latest
published articles on this
project.
Read about Juanito
and Marta's July 2009 visit to the Ontario Dairy Farm of Jim and Gladys
Millson
CLICK BELOW to receive April
2007 report on
COMPLETION PROJECT and STM
BAYAMO:
APRIL REPORT
(English Version) May 7, 2007
REPORTE ABRIL (en Espagnol) 7 de Mayo, 2007
CLICK BELOW to receive August 2006 report on COMPLETION PROJECT and STM
BAYAMO:
AUGUST
REPORT
(English Version) August
28, 2006
REPORTE AGOSTO
(Spanish Version) August
28, 2006
CLICK HERE to read CONCEPT
PAPER: Sewage to Milk (STM), May 22, 2006
Development of a sustainable
peri-urban
model to employ
Canadian environmental technology
to improve water quality, reduce river pollution and increase milk
production under drought conditions
by using municipal effluent to irrigate solar-power-fenced rotational
pastures
at a farm cooperative in Bayamo, Cuba.
CLICK HERE to
read COMPLETION
PROJECT REPORT, April 18,
2006
and see what we are doing this year
to finish things off (fundraising
priority: $15,000)
CLICK HERE to
read FINAL
REPORT
TO CIDA, March 19, 2006
and see what this amazing little
project accomplished in 2005.
CLICK HERE to read
what the Canadian dairy farmers
have
to say about their
experience!
(Click
here for a PDF-version of
the above)
CLICK HERE TO read
about how this all began in 2000!
CLICK HERE to HELP
SUPPORT
this work!
BREAKING NEWS!
WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW
READ: A helping
hand for Cuba. Ontario Dairy Farmer Magazine, October 2009
READ Report
on Juanito and Marta's Visit to Canada, July 2009
WHAT'S
NEXT?
Exciting
news is that ANAP applied for and received $30,000 in funding from the
Canadian Embassy (Canada Fund) to complete the irrigation
works. Have a look at what lies ahead over the next
several months:
Morgan
Millson Donneral and Darryl Donneral are going down on December 17th
for 5 days at the CPA
working on tasks 3, 4 and 5 below.
1. Completion of the
irrigation works to support the 6 hectares of ration crop production
and bring the last 15 hectares of rotational pasture into irrigation.
2.
Members of the CPA with responsibility for moving the cattle
between pastures (and pedestals) attend an on-farm workshop given by
Aurelio Alvarez Mendez, IIPF, on how to optimize grazing rotations.’
3.
Review and measure the on-farm ration capability that the CPA
will enjoy once irrigation works are complete and the last pedestal is
renovated out of king grass… Can 100% of the daily ration
required by calves, heifers, cows, bulls and buffalo can be met by the
CPA’s 3 hectares of grass/legume pedestals, 30 hectares of
improved rotational pastures and 6 hectares of on-farm ration
crops? Are the processes in place to produce the
differentiated
rations? What is the nutritional component of each? Where
can we source the needed minerals? Could this CPA be self-sufficient
(need nothing from outside) if it chose to be?
4.
Ensure the calf-rearing program is running smoothly, calves are
healthy, ration is available. Identify and solve any problems
that arise…
5.
Look over the electrical systems supporting the fencing to make
sure the components are all functioning optimally. Identify why
there have been some problems with the life of batteries and
chargers. Replace three existing (dead) deep cell marine
batteries (ANAP please identify if these can be sourced in Cuba or
not?). Try to determine cause and solutions, if available.
6.
Identify the costs to renovate the building in the agropecuario
(once the home of the doctor of Jose Marti) and turn it into the Jose
Marti Training Centre for farmer-to-farmer extension. Bunks to
sleep a dozen visiting farmers plus and meeting room with blackboard
and seating. Once cost identified, begin fundraising.
7.
Review with all Project Partners (CPA, ANAP, IIPF, Project Team)
all aspects of the Project, identify any further project needs,
and decide how to best quantify costs and measure results.
8. Fundraise to support the above.
WHAT WE DID LAST
WINTER (2010)...
Jim and I spent a week and
a half at the CPA in early January to discuss the strategic plan and to
action any outstsnding items. We will return in early January of
2011 to "connect the dots" and assess the project's success and "next
steps" - building a Jose Marti eduction centre for other Cuban farmers
to learn and emulate the sustainable, hybrid, Cuba/Canada rural dairy
model we have built. (On the farm is the former house of the
Doctor of Jose Marti. A la Marti, we will restore it for a training centre with bunks for 6
farmers to stay and shadow the CPA for a week to learn what they are
doing...)
WHAT WE DID LAST
SUMMER (2009)...
In July I spent two
weeks at the Ontario dairy farm of Jim and Gladys
Millson, who have volunteered their time and
expertise to help the Cuban dairy project since 2004. Juanito
Sanchez Martell and
Marta Suarez, both members of the cooperative CPA 26 Julio, were at Jim
and Gladys' farm for three weeks of training. Article
below..
Cuban
Farmers visit Southern Ontario
In food
stores, farm markets and pharmacies, through discussions at Tim
Horton’s, twilight meetings and the neighbour’s farm, many readers in
Southern Ontario met the two Cuban dairy farmers who arrived July 5th
as guests of Solina dairy farmers Jim and Gladys Millson, Landomills
Holsteins.
Juanito Sanchez Martell and Marta Suarez
Ramirez are in Canada as part of a cooperative project to increase
sustainable dairy production in Cuba.
Jim Millson, Durham Region’s
representative to the Board of Directors of Dairy Farmers of Ontario,
is one of three Canadian farmers who volunteered their time in December
2004 to support a dairy project at Agricultural Cooperative 26 Julio in
Havana Province.
At the end of the one-year pilot, Jim
found the potential so intriguing he “just couldn’t walk
away.” As a result, the Millson’s have adopted the
project.
For the past four years, Jim and Gladys,
daughter Morgan and son-in-law Darryl Donneral, together with BC
Agrologist and Project Leader Wendy Holm, have worked closely with
their Cuban counterparts to create a sustainable dairy model based on
rotational pastures, irrigation, solar-powered electric fencing,
on-farm ration production, and hand rearing of calves that will help
Cuba become more self-sufficient in milk production.
The Project won the 2007 AMEC Award for
Sustainable Development of Natural Resources/Protection of the
Environment at the 15th Annual Canadian Awards for International
Cooperation. Pilot funding of $75,000 was provided by CIDA. A
further $175,000 has been donated by farmers, farm suppliers and
supportive Canadians through Sustainable Cities Foundation.
With another 18 months remaining in the
project, Juanito and Marta were here to improve their skills in calf
rearing, herd management and nutrition. When not shadowing the
Millsons in their daily farm chores, Juanito and Marta also had time to
visit a Junior 4H Show in Orono, tour Brighton’s environmental sewage
treatment wetlands, attend two area Twilight Meetings (Vale O’ Skene
Holsteins in Little Britain and Alona Holsteins in Millbrook), visit a
rotational pasture (Tim Prior, Brussels), drop in on two livestock
auctions, visit Oeds Geertsma’s dairy and egg farm in Lucknow, tour
Kawartha Dairy plant and a milking goat operation (Lloyd Wicks’ Grass
Hill Farm) in Bobcaygeon, and spend a morning at Martin Littkemann and
Lori Smith’s water buffalo dairy in Stirling. A visit to Tyrone
Mills topped off their program.
A meeting was also arranged with
the Cuban Consulate in Toronto, and local MP Bev Oda, minister
responsible for international cooperation, visited the farm to learn
more about the project and explore avenues for further support.
READ: A helping
hand for Cuba. Ontario Dairy Farmer Magazine, October 2009
READ Report
on Juanito and Marta's Visit to Canada, July 2009
BACKGROUND
In
ten years, 536 farmers
(423
Canadian and 27 Cuban) have participated in 29 Delegations of the
Canada Cuba Farmer to Farmer Project. These
Delegations - the ongoing, relationship-building Phase One component of
the work - will
continue. (In addition, 14 scientists, 73 students and 22 chefs
have studied sustainable agriculture in Cuba through this project.)
2005 PILOT
PROJECT
The Project moved into Phase Two - cooperative capacity
building - with its one-year Pilot Project: Enhancing Sustainable Dairy
Production Capacity in Cuba. This Project profiled
the skills and cooperative capacity building of Canada’s dairy farmers,
who have a long history of positive relations with Cuba's
farmers.
Our Canadian
partners in this work were the Canadian
International
Development Agency (funded through CIDA's
Environment and Sustainable
Development Program, Partnerships
Branch, NGO Project Facility), and the Vancouver-based NGO Sustainable
Cities.
Our Cuban partner was ANAP (Asociación Nacional de Agricultores
Pequeños), Cuba's national association of small farmers.
Enhancing Sustainable Dairy
Production Capacity in Cuba brought together - in a
farmer-to-farmer framework - the expertise and animal husbandry skills
of Canadian dairy farmers with the ingenuity of Cuba's intensive
pasture management methods to amplify and document a sustainable,
pasture-based dairy production system that could serve as a model for
Latin America.
The Project
commenced in December 2004 when three Canadian dairy farmers
(from British Columbia, Alberta
and Ontario; all three have participated in Canada Cuba Farmer to
Farmer tours) traveled to Cuba to begin the skills transfer
process. In August 2005, Wendy Holm, Morgan Millson and
Darryl Donneral spent two weeks at the CPA erecting solar-powered
electric fencing. In December 2005, the Project Team plus Gladys
Millson returned to the CPA to transfer calf management skills and
produce a training video.
THE COMPLETION
PROJECT
In March 2006, Jim and Gladys Millson
returned to the CPA with Wendy to assess what other things needed doing
to make the CPA self-sufficient.
In May of 2006. the CPA reported a threefold increase in milk
production from their 20 top-producing cows. In August 2007, Holm together
with Morgan (nee Millson) and Darryl Donneral worked on the CPA for two
weeks constructing 15 more hecares of electric fenced rotational
pastures, installing a 100 HP motor for irrigaiton, and getting a used
hammer mill/proportioner up and running for feed ration
production.
On January 2nd, 2009, Jim and Gladys Millson and I return to the CPA
for on-site meetings with Juan Sanchez Martell and members of the
cooperative,
Juan Carlos Loyola (ANAP), Aurelio Alvarez Mendez (Institute for
Pastures and Forages) to confirm a two year plan to complete the work
(Pedestals seeded to proper grass varieties and trellises raised to
correct height, on-farm ration production functioning) and perfect the model (pasture
rotations optimaized, calf beeding program optimized, milking three
times a day, all components in harmony, farmer-to-farmer training
centre in place,* only off-farm input is minerals). We will spend
several more days providing training and holding workshops.
In December of 2010. Morgan Millson Donneral and Darryl Donneral will
spend 5 days at the CPA working on tasks 3, 4 and 5 (see What's Next above).
* Hopefully, through the conversion of an house near the animals
once owned by the doctor of Jose Marti.
BUILDING A
PERI-URBAN MODEL
If it
remains of interest to the Cuban government, Canadian funders and the
Canadian and Cuban farmers, our next steps
will be to replicate
the success of the rural dairy model in a peri-urban setting. Again
farmer-led, Sewage
to Milk: BAYAMO, in drought prone Granma province, will add an effluent irrigation
component, using urban sewage treated thru natural wetlands to irrigate
pedestals and solar-power-fenced rotational pastures.
The farmers from CPA 25 Julio (our pilot model) will lead the in
country training. This 3 year project will enhance environment,
improve drinking water
quality and create
new production and extension capacity for
surrounding dairy farms.
For Canada, this renewal of our long-standing relationship with Cuba’s
dairy farmers can only result in more positive outcomes on a trade
level. Dairy production is a high priority for Cuba – half her
milk supplies are imported. As tourism pushes the Cuban economy, demand
will increase for improved genetics, improved inputs and a wider range
of consumer products (e.g. specialty cheeses, ground beef).
This Project builds the international relationships that will stand
Canada’s dairy farmers in good stead as opportunities
emerge.
This project
is but the first step along the path of more meaningful
farmer-to-farmer engagement that will have as its mandate the ethical
sharing of capacity in support of sustainable farming communities, food
security and the environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL/CLEAN
ENERGY NOTE:
This project harnesses Cuba’s abundant solar energy reserves to power
cattle fences that encircle sustainable, rotational pastures.
$$$
FINANCES $$$: Please help us take this important
work forward. Download
our FUNDRAISER
which contains information on how you can donate and receive a
charitable tax credit for your help. Also
contact Wendy
Holm, P.Ag. at holm@farmertofarmer.ca.
CLICK HERE to read
FINAL
REPORT
TO CIDA, March 19, 2006 and see what this amazing little project
accomplished in 2005.
CLICK HERE to read COMPLETION
PROJECT REPORT, April 18,
2006
Click on the below
links for more information:
COLUMNS:
A helping
hand for Cuba. Ontario Dairy Farmer Magazine, October 2009
Cuba:
Enhancing Cuba's Production.
Sep/Oct
2008, Western
Dairy Farmer.
Do you
know a
deserving
student? Jan/Feb
2008, Western
Dairy Farmer
Dairy without borders. Nov/Dec
2007,
Western Dairy Farmer
International co-operation bestows
accolades on dairy efforts.
July/Aug
2007,
Western
Dairy Farmer
Ontario Dairy Farmers
Abroad - Sustainable Dairy Circles in Cuba.
July/Aug
2007, Western
Dairy Farmer
Long
live the Pedestals - down with the King. Western Dairy
Farmer, May/June 2007
Ontario
dairy farmers helping in Cuba. Rural Voice. May 2007
Canadian
farmers
triple dairy production at a Cuban cooperative. Mar/Apr
2007 Western Dairy
Farmer
The
Rumpelstiltskin
Project: Sewage to Milk, Bayamo. Jan/Feb 2007
Western Dairy
Farmer
The
Cuban boot project and other tales. Western Dairy Farmer, Nov/Dec 2006
An
Affair of the Professional Heart... written
for the Ontario Agrologist, publication
pending.
The
little project that could - A Christmas Story. BC
Holstein News, December
2005.
Did you hear the one about the
farmer's daughter? Western Dairy Farmer, July/August 2005.
Hypocrisy and
opportunity. OPINION.
The Western Producer, Apr 14, 2005.
What goes
around comes around, OPINION,
Western
Producer, January
2005
.
Sharing Secrets,
BC Holstein
News, December 2004.
El Vapor
-
Where this all
began! Country Life
in BC, December 2000
* * *
