Dominican Republic livestock with opportunity to export more to China and others

Meat farming has a promising future worldwide because production has not increased in recent years, while purchasing power has increased in some countries, such as China, which has lifted 800 million people out of poverty in the last 25 years.

This is a great opportunity for the Dominican Republic, although consumption has also increased due to the more than 11 million tourists the country receives annually, said Marcelino Vargas, a consultant and agribusinessman.

He states that in our country and others during this century, the consumption of meat and milk has increased, and the increase in production has not been significant, although we returned last year to export beef to the United States. He recalls that at the beginning of this century, imports of quality cuts of meat were insignificant, but last year, the country imported more than 100 million dollars’ worth.

He believes that we should set up a group of cattle farmers to produce 50% of these cuts in the coming years and thus save on foreign currency investment. Vargas, a milk, meat, and rice producer, explains that we have a tropical country, and as a result, we must crossbreed Bos taurus with Bos indicus, the latter consisting of Brahman, Nelore, Guzerat, and Gyr.

He adds that these produce offspring that can adapt to the sun, heat, and high relative humidity. For that, here we have a Bos Taurus that adapts perfectly to the inclement weather of tropical countries; we are referring to the Senepol breed. He points out that, besides Senepol, the European breeds we use most here are mainly Simmental for beef and dairy, red and black Angus, Charolais, Hereford, and Wagyu. By crossing Brahman with these European breeds, we get Simbrah, Brangus, Charbray, Braford, and Senepol with Angus to form Senangus, he explains. As cattle breeders, we must choose the cross that suits us best, according to the location of the farm and economic availability, above all, taking into account various parameters such as: fertility, ease of calving, birth and weaning weight, age at first pregnancy and first calving, disease resistance, feed conversion ratio.

The price they will pay us per kilo or per band must also be taken into account. Without a doubt, the most important factor in beef cattle farming is the quality of the pastures and good management of the paddocks. Vargas believes that if we don’t do it that way, we should do something other than livestock farming. Fortunately, in the tropics, we can graze the cattle 12 months of the year, which is not the case in temperate climates.