LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION Cuba's climate permits pasturing during all seasons of the year. This provides cheap feed, particularly for cattle, which are by far the most important kind of livestock. Large sections of the east-central part of the island consist of relatively poor land, suitable only for grazing. Large cattle ranches similar to those in the western part of the United States exist in these areas. Very little grain, hay, or any kind of feed other than pasture is fed to livestock in Cuba. Remarkable development during the past decade or so has taken place in the cattle industry. Government aid, protective tariffs, improved breeding stock, and modern packing plants have transformed Cuba from a heavy importer of meat and dairy products to a position of self-sufficiency and even to a net exporter of beef and dairy products. Although Cuba is not well adapted for hog production, this industry has also increased in the past 10 years to the extent of supplying most of the domestic demands for pork products, large quantities of which were formerly imported. Sheep are not important, but poultry production fully supplies domestic requirements. Hides and skins are an important item of export. The total value of exports of all kinds of meat, dairy products, hides, and skins was 2.6 million dollars in 1940, and will be considerably greater in 1941. The approximate numbers of the various kinds of livestock in Cuba are shown in table 52. These data are not necessarily accurate but serve to show the relative importance of the different kinds of livestock. TABLE 52.-Livestock numbers in Cuba in years specified1 1 Although the census is compiled from information obtained directly from the municipalities throughout the island, which keep registrations of livestock, there are many thousands of animals unregistered because of the negligence of owners. Furthermore, the censuses for the various yrars were not always taken in the same manner and therefore do not accurately reflect changes. 2 Year 1913. * Year 1934. Preliminary. WORK ANIMALS OXEN Practically all fieldwork and farm hauling is done by oxen. In 1940 there were 408,000 in Cuba, or about the same as the total number of horses. The sugar industry particularly depends upon oxen to move the entire cane crop from the fields to the railways or mills. For this work, six to eight oxen are usually hitched to a large, heavy two-wheeled cart. Oxen are well adapted to the heavy work and to the warm climate. Furthermore, they subsist almost entirely on pasture except during the cane-harvesting season, when they eat the cane tops and leaves left in the field. HORSES, MULES, AND DONKEYS Horses as a rule are used only for riding and provide the principal method of human transportation in rural areas where small farmers cannot afford more expensive transportation and where earth roads. do not permit the use of automobiles or small-wheeled wagons during much of the year. Nearly every farmer has a horse or a mule to ride and to carry produce and groceries. They are used only occasionally for hauling. Horse breeding is not well organized. The native horses, although smaller than those in the United States, are hardy, gentle, easily supported, and, when crossed with good American stallions, produce excellent service animals. Mules are used occasionally for light farm work, for hauling in towns, for riding, and especially for pack work. Donkeys are also used some for hauling, but particularly for pack trains in mountainous regions. MEAT PRODUCTION Cuba is now on a net-export basis for meat. At least three-fourths of Cuba's meat requirements, other than poultry, are supplied by beef and veal and about one-fourth by pork. The warm climate and the extensive natural pastures are excellent for cattle production but are not well adapted for the production of hogs. Consequently Cuba has a relatively larger number of cattle and a smaller number of hogs than does the United States-about 1.2 cattle per capita compared with about 0.5 in the United States and about 0.2 hog per capita compared with about 0.4 in the United States. Productivity of livestock in Cuba is considerably lower than in the United States, particularly because breeds are not highly productive and because the animals are pasture-fed and not fattened. Total meat consumption is relatively low, estimated at about 50 to 60 pounds per capita compared with about 130 pounds in the United States. The warm climate and the low purchasing power contribute to the low meat consumption. Cuba's meat industry, particularly the cattle industry, has developed tremendously during the past 15 years. From 1920 to about 1925, nearly 100 million pounds of meat were imported annually. Most of this consisted of jerked beef and salt pork. Since then Government protection in the form of higher tariffs and other measures, together with the necessity of conserving foreign exchange and finding alternative employment for those unemployed because of the decline in the sugar industry, has resulted in the development of the livestock industry to a point where meat was on a net-export basis for the first time in 1940. Beef is now exported, and pork imports have declined to only about 4 million pounds, compared with former imports of 40 to 65 million (see table 53). Cuba now has three large packing plants in Habana in addition to numerous small slaughter houses. CATTLE Prior to 1895, cattle production was a thriving industry, with more than 3 million head and regular exports of live cattle to neighboring islands. The Cuban War of Independence, however, was almost fatal to the industry. From 1895 to 1898 about three-fourths of the cattle disappeared, leaving less than 700,000 head. During the American occupation of the island beginning in 1898, the shortage of beef was so severe that stock had to be imported from the United States and Venezuela, but by 1910 the number of cattle in Cuba had again been built up to about 3.2 million and, according to census data, reached about 5 million in 1923. Census data show that numbers declined somewhat after that date but reached 5.3 million in 1940 (fig. 37). There are reasons to believe, however, as indicated by the sharp decline in imports, that the number of cattle in Cuba has actually increased. Soon after the World War Cuba began to export cattle, as many as 10,000 a year, but when importing countries raised tariff rates this trade was curtailed, and Cuban producers were forced to rely on the local market. A packing industry was developed, and in 1927 Cuba raised its import duties on meat, giving further stimulus to the industry. Consequently, imports, almost entirely in the form of jerked beef, declined from a former level of 45 million pounds a year to practically none after 1932. Exports of fresh beef, which were begun on a small scale in 1936, reached 12 million pounds in 1940 and 42.5 million pounds in 1941. Im Cuban cattle are of mixed breeds, consisting principally of the old native breed crossed with the Zebu, or Brahman (fig. 38), from India, to increase the hardiness and resistance to pests and diseases. proved breeds, such as Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Holstein, and Brown Swiss, have also been introduced, but the wide influence of the Zebu is most readily apparent. Breeding stock from the United States frequently dies when introduced into Cuba unless it is immunized and acclimated. Several factors have been responsible for the development of the present type of cattle. The domestic market prefers lean meat rather than the marbled beef preferred in the United States. The cattle must be hardy, immune to tick fever, and adaptable to living in the subtropical climate and to existing entirely on a range pasture. Furthermore, the type must be suitable to supply oxen for farm draft work. The cattle industry is principally in the central and eastern part of the island, the three eastern Provinces having three-fourths of the total number. Camagüey and the adjacent part of Oriente have large areas of relatively poor land unsuitable for cultivation but providing extensive grazing the year round, although pastures run short during the dry winter season. Many cattle are also pastured in the hilly and mountain regions. The most common grass in the plains region is Paraná (Pará), but guinea grass is also widely distributed. It is estimated that about one-half of the cattle are produced on large ranches and about one-half by small farmers. The cattle are usually sold for slaughter direct from pasture, without any fattening and without receiving any grain or other feed. Cattle prices are too low to permit the purchase or importation of expensive feeds. Cuba produces no feed grain except corn, and only enough of that for human consumption and some for hog feeding. Relatively large quantities |