Godwin Hulse Disputes S.I.B.’s Figures on Cattle Production

Godwin Hulse

Hulse’s announcement this morning came hard on the heels of the latest figures released by the Statistical Institute of Belize for the second quarter of 2020.  During a presentation on Wednesday, the S.I.B. indicated that there has been a sixty percent decrease in the production of cattle.  Hulse disputed that information, arguing that while the trade of cattle has gone down considerably, the production of cattle, based on breeding and rearing, remains constant.  He says that the S.I.B. got it all wrong.

Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture

“You all know the talk about cattle, and I want to make at this juncture also a statement on cattle because I know that in tonight’s news, if not sooner then later there will be the report of the Statistical Institute of Belize and in reviewing it this morning, I noted that there’s a sixty percent production reduction.  There has been no production reduction in cattle.  What has happened is the informal routes for cattle ceased so there’s a reduction in sales, not in production.  It’s not a question that cattle farmers suddenly stopped producing.  You imagine what would happen if there was sixty percent reduction in cattle?  And guess what happened, let me tell you this, the way we run cattle in Belize and many people run open range grazing still, the bulls and the cows don’t know it’s COVID, you know, they continue to make babies, so the production hasn’t ceased.  It is the sales that has declined a bit and that is what we’re working diligently to build up back, running it through a legal route.  So when you get that piece of news tonight, bear that in mind.”