Milk mandate pitched as market driver for dairy

After languishing for decades, another effort is being made to bring back the dairy sector to its former glory, when Jamaica produced three times more milk.

Industry players cite climate change and the need to import better breeds of dairy cattle as matters to be addressed, amid a suggestion of a mandate by one of the largest dairy operators in Jamaica that milk consumption become the subject of government policy.

Jamaica’s dairy cows produce, on average, seven or eight litres of milk per day, which pales in comparison to the top milk-producing countries in the world.

Israel tops the world milk production chart, with its animals producing a whopping 43 litres of milk per day, according to Dr Derrick Deslandes, chairman of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board.

Other leading producers include parts of the United States with 38 litres per day, Ireland in the low 30s, and Canada at about 29.