The Agriculture of Cuba

of molasses and some peanut meal could be used for feed if the price of cattle justified their use.

The number of cattle slaughtered annually, as recorded by official Government statistics, is about 475,000 head (table 54), but a considerable number in addition are probably slaughtered on farms and in local communities, so that the total slaughter, including that for export, may be between 600,000 and 750,000 head. Animals are usually slaughtered at a weight of near 1,000 pounds and produce dressed carcasses weighing about 580 pounds.

Prices of live cattle at the central markets in Habana vary from about 2.5 to 4.5 cents a pound,53 but at times have varied more

FIGURE 38.-Zebu, or Brahman, bull. Zebu cattle have commonly been crossed with native cattle in Cuba.

widely. Freight costs from the eastern producing areas to Habana are from one-third to one-half cent a pound. Prices for beef have been controlled by the Government since 1935. In 1941 the maximum wholesale price of beef was fixed at 6.35 cents a pound, and in February 1942 at 7.25 cents a pound. The maximum retail prices according to quality vary from 6 cents for third-grade to 10 cents (11 cents in 1942) for second-grade and 14 cents (16 cents in 1942) for first-grade. These maximum retail prices apply to all cuts except fillet.

Recently chilled beef has been exported to the New York market. This consists largely of whole or quartered carcasses, usually graded Utility on the United States market, and brought about 14 cents a pound wholesale, at prices current in the summer of 1941.

63 A decree on July 16, 1941, fixed the minimum price for cattle at 3.2 cents a pound, f. o. b. Camagüey, and the wholesale price of beef in Habana at 6.35 cents a pound. A subsequent decree on February 14, 1942, fixed the maximum Camagüey price for cattle on the hoof at 3.8 cents per pound.

TABLE 54.-Livestock slaughtered commercially in Cuba, 1928–39 1

This table includes only the officially recorded commercial slaughter for domestic consumption and does not include considerable private slaughter in rural areas or slaughter for export. In the case of hogs these data are much too small because, until recently, there was no tax on hog slaughter and consequently there was no incentive to record all commercial slaughter.

Official Government statistics.

HOGS

The semitropical climate of Cuba is not well adapted to hog production. Suitable feed for hogs is not as abundant or as cheap as pasture for cattle. Furthermore, reports state that gains from feeding a specified quantity of feed are not as great or as rapid as in the northern part of the United States. The relatively higher costs of hog production compared with beef production are reflected in the Habana prices of 6 to 8 cents a pound for hogs when cattle prices were about 3 cents.

Few farmers specialize in hog production or feed systematically. Most farmers keep a few hogs and usually permit them to run about the farm and pick up most of their feed. Palmiche nuts from the royal palm are an important source of protein and oily feed, but the supply of palmiche is limited. Imported grain is usually too expensive to be used for hog feed, but some domestic corn is fed.

The native type of hogs is the criollo, or chino (fig. 39). These are rangy and adapted to the climate and to finding their own feed, but do not produce rapid gains. Imported breeds, especially the Hampshire, have been crossed with the native type until now the criolloHampshire cross is the most common type in Cuba.

There are probably about 1 million hogs in Cuba. Table 54 shows about 230,000 hogs slaughtered commercially in 1940, but trade. estimates place the number at nearer 400,000.5 The industry has increased during recent years, but both pork and lard are still on an import basis. Quantities imported during recent years, especially of pork, were materially smaller than they were 10 to 15 years ago.

Consumption of pork products in 1937 is estimated (19) at 20.5 million pounds of fresh pork, 18 million of bacon, and 4.5 million of ham, totaling 43 million pounds, of which about 5 million are imported. With some further increase in production and better feeding

Until recently, slaughtered hogs have not been subject to an excise tax, and consequently there has been no accurate record of numbers.

Cuba would be able to supply the total requirements of pork but would still fall far short of meeting the requirements for lard.

Imports of salt pork, bacon, and hams, principally from the United States, averaged over 42 million pounds a year from 1920 to 1929. After increased tariff protection, domestic production expanded and imports fell sharply to only 4 million pounds in 1940 (table 53).

Lard requirements have always been far in excess of domestic production. Imports in 1920-29 averaged 92 million pounds annually. Higher import duties since 1927 have tended to increase domestic production of lard and to some extent of substitute lard compounds. During the 5 years 1936-40 imports averaged only 47 million pounds. Imports vary considerably, depending upon purchasing power: in

1933 they dropped below 10 million pounds and remained under 30 million until 1937.

Total consumption in 1937 was estimated by the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture (19) at about 85 million pounds, and on this basis more than one-half of the total requirements were imported. It is not likely that Cuba will attain self-sufficiency in lard production in the near future. Local production is handicapped by a relatively limited demand for pork as compared with lard, and production for lard alone is not profitable.

SHEEP AND GOATS

The Cuban climate is not well adapted to sheep production. The census of 1940 records 141,000 head. These were kept primarily for mutton, since the wool growth is usually not sufficient to warrant

shearing. Some additional mutton, about 20,000 pounds a year, is imported.

Goats are generally kept on small farms and by poor families in outskirts of the cities. The 1934 census listed 54,000 head. They are kept for both milk and meat. The small herds are usually allowed to pasture and are rarely fed. Goat and kid meat is frequently sold as mutton or lamb.

The officially recorded slaughterings of sheep and goats in 1938 amounted to 34,000 head, producing about 1 million pounds of meat. Many more were probably slaughtered privately on farms.

DAIRY INDUSTRY

Commercial dairying is a comparatively recent development in Cuba. Although the consumption of dairy products is small, particularly of fresh milk, the development of the industry during the past 15 years has been remarkable. Formerly imports were heavy, amounting to 40 or 50 million pounds of condensed milk, 5 million of cheese, and 2.5 million of butter, at a total cost of about 6 million dollars annually, but by 1940 dairying had developed to an export basis for all of these products. Exports in 1940 were valued at about two-thirds of a million dollars.

Nevertheless dairying in Cuba is on an extensive basis and for the most part consists of milking cows of the regular beef herds. Some dairy breeds have been imported, but by far the greater part of the milk is obtained from the native-Zebu or native-Brahman cross. Imported cattle must be acclimated and immunized and are usually less productive under Cuban conditions than in a cooler climate. No hay, grain, or concentrate feed is fed except in a few dairies that supply fresh milk to cities.

Prior to 1927 commercial dairies did not exist except in Habana, and even that city had to depend to a large extent on imports of dairy products. Production in other parts of the island was for purely local consumption, and no attempt was made to collect milk from rural areas for sale in the larger cities. Consumption of fresh milk was very small. Methods of cooling and sanitation were poor, and transportation was slow and inadequate.

The first move toward development of the dairy industry was the Milk Congress of 1927, which made the following suggestions: Formation of a cooperative dairy association; establishment of agricultural banks to assist in financing dairies; carrying out of educational campaigns to instruct dairymen in hygienic production of milk; holding of annual fairs; establishment of milk laboratories; and inspection of dairies and milk by the Government. Not all of these suggestions were put into effect, but the congress served to stimulate the general public and Government interest in the dairy industry.

Some improved cattle were imported; a few good herds were established and dairy-product manufacturing plants were constructed. One enterprise, in particular, with United States capital set up the model Ward's dairy with purebred dairy cattle and retail distribution and delivery of high-grade dairy products in Habana. Its laboratory was permitted to be used by the Government as an experiment station. Although this dairy farm with its intensive feeding was on too expensive a scale to be generally applicable in Cuba, it served as an illustration of what could be done and it acquainted Cubans with high-quality fresh dairy products.

In addition to the Habana area, which supplies primarily fluid milk, there are now two other large dairy districts in Cuba devoted largely to the manufacturing of dairy products. These two are in the principal cattle-grazing country in eastern Cuba. One of these areas centers at Sancti Spíritus in Las Villas and the other around the town of Bayamo, in Oriente.

According to the 1940 census there were 1,636,000 cows in Cuba. From 40 to 50 percent of these now are milked at least part of the time. In the principal grazing areas cows are usually milked only once a day, and when production falls below 2 or 3 quarts a day milking is discontinued and the cows are replaced by others from the beef herd. Production per cow, therefore, is frequently only from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of milk a year. Total milk production is estimated at somewhere between 1 and 2 million quarts a day. Prices paid for milk for processing are relatively high compared with prices of other farm products and vary from $1 to $1.80 per 100 pounds.

BUTTER

Although butter production has increased sharply under tariff protection, the low purchasing power of the majority of the Cuban people results in a low domestic consumption, amounting to only about 1 pound per capita compared with 17 pounds per capita in the United States. Cuba is now self-sufficient, with a total production estimated at from 5 to 6 million pounds annually, produced largely in six commercial creameries. Butter imports in 1920-25 averaged about 2.5 million pounds annually but have declined rapidly to less than 30,000 pounds annually since 1932 (table 55). Exports began on a small scale in 1928 and since 1935 have far exceeded imports. In 1941 exports reached about 1.4 million pounds. During the past decade Cuba's production increased from an estimated 20 to 25 percent of requirements in 1930 to about 130 percent of requirements in 1941.

TABLE 55.-Dairy products imported and exported, Cuba, 1920–40