NAJASA, CAMAGÜEY.- The way is long, very long. The marabou, lord of those landscapes, imposes itself in both sides and in some areas, threatens to stop the way for the “intruder”. One, two, three… you cannot keep counting the many houses of cow pens and their huge cement tanks, in complete ruin in the middle of that thorny and intense green “sea”. The remains of the constructions and the isolated pieces of concrete on the embankment are the only marks of what was the Camagüey´s dairy basin, Fidel’s dream, and that was disrupted with the coming of the special period.

 It is impossible to imagine that 13 miles inside, in an inhabited spot between Najasa and Sibanicú, there is a place like El Maguey, the property of the farmer Carlos Isel Hidalgo Aguilar, of the cooperative of credit and services Rafael Guerra Vives. The results he obtains there in the application of assisted reproduction endorse him as the Best Cuban Producer, recognition he got consecutively in the 1st and 2nd National Reproduction Fair (2018 and 2019).

 THE ABC OF LIVESTOCK

Iselito, as everyone calls him, claims that the triumph card in livestock is to secure water, food and a good management of the herd, what he calls the ABC. “For the rotation of the animals we have five caballerias partitioned in 42 scantlings, each with a water deposit. Since the Commander talked about the importance of the planting of protein plants, we got involved in the movement. Currently, we have two hectares planted with morera, two with tithonia, two with king grass, and two with sugarcane, besides moringa”.

“Its use provides a lot of advantages in the feeding of livestock; for instance the morera has between 23 and 24% of protein, it provides an amount of energy similar to the best feedings, besides vitamins. As a favoring element, it can be processed and stored for the droughts”. To that ingredient for the production of milk he adds another: assisted reproduction:

“Before starting to apply insemination (10 years ago) I delivered between 40 and 50 liters a day, now I average 550 in a day without milking them a second time. We direct the ladder of birth. As a result of the hormonal treatment that we give them, 65 days after the calf is born the cow should be in heat. The heifer is brought in for reproduction at 18 months and we accomplish the first birth at 27 months of age.

“We do not have empty cows – assured – this is only accomplished with the application of science, by keeping control over the livestock, no heat is missed and therefore time is not wasted. It is far more effective that the traditional intercourse and allows to genetically enhance the animals”.

Miguel Ángel Heredia Martínez is the reproducer of the farm. This old school inseminator, graduated in 1970, was witness of the blooming and later decline of the livestock farming in Camagüey. “It was painful to see how the dairies were destroyed and everything came down, but I continued in my business. I can assure you that here we make Fidel’s dream come true, he insisted in the importance of genetic improvement”.

“I control everything carefully. When there is time to bring in the heifer I perform tests to see if it is fit or not. After the two insemination services, three months later, I perform the recto-vaginal gestation diagnose to see if it is pregnant. In the farm there is every condition for doing my job”.

The application of the insemination in livestock is still not enough in the province, since only 38% of the females are inseminated. According to Hidalgo Aguilar, one of the things obstructing the progress is the shortage of Cryogenic thermoses to storage the pills and that the technicians are on foot or by their own means and the distances are very long and in poor conditions. “The cow does not wait, the moment is in the optimal procedure. The acquisition of means of transportation is urgent as well as cellphones to be reachable”.

Among his many accomplishments, he talks about the study he is performing together with the Investigation Center for the Animal Improvement of Tropical Livestock Farming (CIMAGT), in Havana, about the effectiveness of the use of insemination with sexed pills. Such procedure has guaranteed that the 80% of the births are female, securing the replacement.

Besides, they recently applied, with the assistance of the Doctor in Veterinary Medicine Reinaldo Pérez Lastre, specialist of the laboratory of embryos transference Desembarco del Granma, of the Genetic Company Rescate de Sanguily, the first embryos transfer in animals of the farming sector. The six cows impregnated with this modern technique should deliver in March 2020.

DEVELOPMENT IN EL MAGUEY

With the cooperation of the highest political authorities in the province, they electrified the farm at the beginning of 2018. “Then there was development. I was assigned two freezing thermoses, one with a capacity of 1000 liters and the other of 500; not just for me, but for every farmer in the region to deliver their productions. We were able to install a high power equipment to process the protein plants, we enlighten everything and the life conditions improved, retold Isel.

“I am absorbed finishing a mechanical milking plant, of the Argentinian brand DLaval, with four positions. With state of the art technology, close circuit, the milk will go straight from the udders to the thermos, without manipulation, which guarantees the safety of the food.

“The average is 8.3 liters of milk per cow. With the new equipment, we are going to start milking them in the morning and in the afternoon, therefore the average must go up to 11 liters and more”.

Isel currently has 126 cows in his herd, 15 of them just gave birth and the rest are impregnated, besides 71 heifers, so he thinks that he will be able to smoothly exceed the 176 000 liters of milk contracted with the Dairy Products Company in Camagüey.

 The experienced livestock farmer, member of the National Committee of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), has made the Maguey a sort of oasis. He wants to keep on developing his farm because he is certain of what Fidel defended since 1961: “The future is in livestock farming”.

• Translated by Elianna Díaz Mendieta
• Corrected by Linet Acuña Quilez