By The Star Staff
A labor shortage is one of the main reasons why the dairy industry in Puerto Rico has yet to reach its maximum potential, according to a report from the Senate Northern Region Development Committee.
At-large Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera and Guayama District Sen. Albert Torres Berríos spoke Wednesday on the crisis affecting the local dairy industry.
“The results of the study that we commissioned, through Senate Resolution 138 of our authorship, make it clear that, like many other sectors of our economy, the dairy industry suffers severely from the lack of labor,” Riquelme said. “Furthermore, access to raw materials is another problem, along with energy costs. We are going to address these issues now that we have this real survey of the industry, one of the most important in Puerto Rico.”
This week, the Senate received the final report from the Northern Region Development Committee on the dairy industry, which according to data from the Puerto Rico Farmers Association represents 40% of the gross annual agricultural income on the island.
“Our goal is to foster a robust dairy industry that can assimilate the changes of a global economy and continues to be an essential foundation of our agricultural development,” Riquelme said. “The demographic reality of Puerto Rico, where of 3.2 million inhabitants, about 770,000 are over 65 years of age, makes it clear that we have to look for alternatives, be it labor from states of the union or other jurisdictions or assimilating new technological platforms, among others.”
Among the suggestions expressed in the conclusion of the Resolution 138 report were conducting on-site visits to dairy farms to detail their unique needs and reviewing the designation of funds for dairy farmers.
“This does not stop here,” Riquelme said. “We will continue creating forums to advance work in favor of this industry. The committee’s suggestions will be evaluated in detail to identify the path forward then.”
The senator noted that the island dairy industry at one time (circa 2011) included more than 325 dairy farms operating and dispensing milk. Today, the total fluctuates between 230 and 260 farms.
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