Progress report for EDS23-044
Project Information
Over the last 4 years, Puerto Rico has been experiencing one of the worst economic crisis in its history. This has stagnated economic development, reduced employment markets and led to the creation of the Financial Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) by the Federal Government. Hurricanes Irma and Maria, two earthquakes during 2020, and the COVID-19 outbreak, have aggravated this crisis. Although this series of events have weakened our fragile food security, an increased interest in small ruminant production has been observed. Lamb producers have seen an opportunity to enhance their production systems and improve marketing strategies foredible products.
In addition, a recent program sponsored by the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture Small Ruminant Production Fund (DA-SRPF) to import purebred replacement ewes and goats, and the use of sheep to manage grass in solar farms, and weeds in coffee and citrus plantations, have increased animal inventories. However, Puerto Rico continues to import lamb meat and goat dairy products for domestic consumption at higher prices than local products. In order to meet this demand, other livestock producers are responding by entering into this sector.
On the other hand, there are knowledge gaps on proper sheep production management practices, especially value added products, marketing and promotion. It is imperative that the local producer have access to the necessary tools to improve the competitiveness and promote the development, expansion, and the sustainable production of the animal industry, and the subsequent process of locally produced lamb edible products. To increase small ruminant productivity, sustainability, and profitability, a program developed to aid producers with appropriate educational materials is necessary. Through the knowledge of value added, low-cost production management practices, enhanced productivity and marketing, producers will achieve optimum production while producing a high-quality product.
Also, information in Spanish on sustainable small ruminant production, value added basics, marketing in tropical areas, specifically in Puerto Rico and the continental USA, is limited. The few available publications focused on that topic are only available in English. This fact limits the accessibility of information uneducated producers or those with limited internet access. Therefore, it's important to produce educational materials in this clientele’s native language.
The objective of this proposal is to create the "Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program" (TAILAM-EP), that will target independent producers, Agricultural Extension Service county agents, and other clientele to educate them on 1) understanding Value Added process 2) Marketing Strategies 3) E-Commerce 4) Economics 5) Records 6) Budget. The TAILAM-EP will be using webinars, webpages, brochures, site visits and hands on as main delivery methods. As part of the proposal, a technical brochures will be written. An annual conference will be held with the participation of invited speakers.
To create the Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program (TAILAM-EP) to develop educational materials to enhance sustainable small ruminant production on the island. Specific objectives include:
- Development and presentation of educational conferences via webinars and in-house for producers, county agents and other interested clientele on Sustainable Small Ruminant Production in the Tropic.
- Development of educational material, brochures on adding value to Lamb Meat and explaining the best way to market the product.
- Organization of the Annual Conference on Sustainable Lamb Production in the Tropic, focusing on marketing and promotion, with the participation of invited speakers from mainland United States or Latin American countries,
- Assessment of the impact of the TAILAM-EP on producers and county agent’s knowledge on adding value and marketing best principles.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
The objective of this proposal is to create the Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program" (TAILAM-EP) A link with the TAILAM-EP will be developed and made available at the University of Puerto Rico’s Agricultural Extension Service website and The PR-Goat and Sheep Educational Program Initiative (PR-GOSHEPI) websites. All information related to the project, including recorded webinars, and illustrated written materials will be available in the webpage. Information on TAILAM-EP will be also available on social media including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
The main target audience and participants will be members of the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture Small Ruminant Production Fund, and (DA-SRPF), independent sheep producers and the UPR-AES county agents. However, other clientele including former chicken and swine producers, and current beef cattle and dairy farmers, and others interested will be part of potential participants. Undergraduate and graduate students will also be invited, as prospective sheep producers and as a generational transition.
Our main outreach activities of the project will include conferences on sustainable sheep production, value added to lamb products and efficient techniques of marketing utilizing e-commerce in the tropics on year 1 and 2, respectively. Conferences will be held simultaneous with a virtual version.
In addition to the TAILAM-EP webinar program impact on sheep production on the island, topics to be presented during the conferences will include current initiatives related to sustainability such as climate change and sheep production, ecological or organic meat lamb production and silvo-pastoral systems for small ruminants. A conference related to the role of small ruminant on rural development and the participation of inclusive groups will be also included. Faculty for the continental United States or Latin American countries will be invited as speakers in the project conferences. The conferences will be conducted in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture Small Ruminant Promotion Fund (DASRPF). Memories of the conferences will be also will be published in the TAILAM-EP webpage.
2024 Annual Report
The objective of this proposal was to create the "Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program" (TAILAM-EP), that will target independent producers, Agricultural Extension Service county agents, and other clientele to educate them on 1) understanding Value Added process 2) Marketing Strategies 3) E-Commerce 4) Economics 5) Records 6) Budget.
The TAILAMB-EP is using webinars and webpages as main delivery methods. As part of the proposal, a newsletter “Cordero” with information about Lamb meat production have been developed. One on site conference was conducted with 25 members of the Puerto Rico Society of
Tai Institute of Sustainable Livestock Production Research Agricultural Sciences on May 22, 2023. During the visit, conferences on lamb meat production and demonstration of lamb meat cuts were presented to the attendees.
Three in house trainings related to lamb meat cuts and packaging have been presented in Tai Hay Farm processing plant (Table 1)
Table 1. Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program Inhouse Trainings 2023-2024
| Facility | Training | Date | Attendance From: |
| Tai Hay Farm Processing Facility | Lamb cuts and packaging | May 22, 2023 | SOPCA Members (25 participants) |
| Tai Hay Farm Processing Facility | Lamb cuts and packaging | April 14, 2024 | SOLLER Students (10 participants) |
| Tai Hay Farm Processing Facility | Lamb cuts and packaging | April 18, 2024 | UPR Mayaguez Campus (10 participants) |
Three webinars related to lamb meat production have been presented by professionals from Puerto Rico and Colombia invited as speakers (Table 2).
Table 2. Tai Lamb Meat Marketing and Promotion Educational Program Webinars 2023-2024
| Speaker | Institution | Country | Webinar |
| Katherine Domenech, PhD March 14, 2024 | University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez,PR | Puerto Rico | Principles of Meat Lamb Production |
| Lorena Aguayo, PhD April 16, 2024 | AGROSAVIA Cordoba, Colombia | Colombia |
Lamb Carcass Evaluation |
| Gabriel Aguilu, B.S. May 2, 2024 | Tai Gourmet Met Lajas, PR | Puerto Rico | Lamb Meat Cuts |
Conferences were presented in Spanish and were transmitted using social media tools. An average of 45 participants attended the live webinar conferences. All the videos of the conferences are available on the Tai Lamb Meat webpage: https://www.tailam-ep.com. Recorded conferences have been viewed by an average of 15 participants, including international participants.
As part of the educational project, three on site demonstrations on lamb meat production were presented: two to students attending the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus (N = 18/each). Another similar workshop was presented to students attending the Soller agricultural vocational school located in Camuy, Puerto Rico (N =10). Topics of the workshops included lamb meat processing including major and detail cuts, value-add product production, packing and sanitation.
A newsletter “Cordero” with information based on lamb meat production was developed. Already four (4) editions have been released. Newsletter information is available in the project TAILAMB-EP (https://www.tailam-ep.com, https://www.facebook.com/Tailamep) and the University of
Puerto Rico Sheep and Goat Education Initiative(PR – GOSHEPI, https://uprm.edu/sea/pr-goshepi, https://www.facebook.com/PRGOSHEPI21), webpage and social media.
To establish a baseline on the consumer preferences for lamb meat an online survey type questionnaire was developed. The survey included three general questions: 1) Do you eat meat, 2) Do you eat ovine meat, and 3) Do you eat lamb or mutton. If the person consumed ovine meat the survey also included the following questions 1) What kind retail cut lamb meat do you eat? 2) What kind of lamb value-add product do you eat, 3) Do you buy local or imported lamb meat, 4) Do you eat fresh or frozen ovine meat, 5) Do you know local enterprises that sell ovine meat, 6) How often do you eat ovine meat and 7) Is vacuum packaging important to you when buying meat? Survey was answered by 589 from 58 municipalities around of the island. Participants include
students, farmers, agricultural related people and general public. Out of 589 participants 579 (98.3%) ate meat and 187 (31.6 %) lamb or mutton. Of the 187 ovine consumers 150 (80.2%) consume lamb and 37 (19.8%) mutton.
