Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (right), presents the 2023 National Champion Farmer trophy to Managing Director of Unity Boer Goat Farm, Owen Bartley (second right), during the recent staging of the 69th Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show at the Denbigh Showground in Clarendon. Sharing the moment (from left) are Vice-President at Hi-Pro, Colonel (Ret’d) Jaimie Ogilvie and Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney.
August 14 (JIS):
The 2023 National Champion Farmer, Owen Bartley, is encouraging more persons to get into goat farming, noting that the sector is profitable.
“Goat farming is so big. Right now, management and security are key; you have to have that as number one. If you are not managing the animals, you are not going to survive. You have to take care of your animals just like how you take care of yourself, and success will be there,” he told JIS News.
Mr. Bartley, who operates the Unity Boer Goat Farm in Manchester, was crowned the National Champion Farmer for the second time at the 69th Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show held recently at the Denbigh Showground in May Pen, Clarendon.
For National Champion Greenhouse Farmer, Deandra Rowe, taking the title is a welcome boost after the “rough years” of COVID-19.
“It is a privilege to be acknowledged in this way because we took a blow during COVID. It feels good to be back on top,” she told JIS News.
Miss Rowe also placed second in the National Champion Farmer Competition and second in the Young Champion Farmer Competition.
She is the Managing Director for the Manchester-based Abbey Garden Farm.
The National Champion Farmer Competition is one of the highlights of the annual Denbigh show.
The award is given based on several criteria, including the layout of the farm, quality of record keeping, efficiency, innovations in farming, capital management and marketing.
Farmers competing for the prize are grouped into categories according to the size of their properties.
Class A includes farms of one to 10 acres; Class B farms, 10 to 30 acres; Class C 30 to 60 acres; and Class D 100 acres and over.
The Champion Farmer receives cash and other prizes.
