The lack of new workers willing to learn about dairy farming is one of the problems the Island's dairy industry is facing today.

In addition, a lack of technical support and expertise also plagues Island dairy farmers.

Dunkley Dairy Chief Executive Officer Michael Dunkley spoke about the problems and history of dairy farming in Bermuda at the weekly the Hamilton Lions Club luncheon.

The artificial insemination programme run by the department of Agriculture and Fisheries is another problem that needs to be addressed, he said.

Mr. Dunkley said: "In the past, a bull was put out to pasture and allowed to run free.

"In recent years, there have been many problems in effectively carrying out the programme.'' Problems with artificial insemination range from contamination of the semen by the liquid nitrogen they are frozen in to the sample being used and the cow not being impregnated.

This brought Mr. Dunkley to the need for more technical support. "If there were more experts on the Island they could look at the cow and tell us what the problem was,'' he said.

Last year Dunkley Dairy purchased over 1,700,000 quarts of milk from six farmers milking only 275 of 700 cows.

The remaining cows are dry, a term used to describe a resting period after a productive milking cycle.

In 1938 over 1,100,000 quarts of milk were purchased from 106 dairies milking 510 of a total 1,189 cows.

"These figures show that we are producing more milk with fewer cows,'' he said. "It is my opinion that our local milk supply is very healthy and growing to meet our demand.

"Bermuda's milk supply is of good quality. It is considered disease free unlike many of our neighbouring countries.'' He added that Bermuda cows are hormone free. Hormones are normally used to help increase the amount of milk a cow produces.

Mr. Dunkley said "Like any other business the local dairy farmer faces challenges, but I firmly believe that with the support of the government as well as the processor a good quality product will continue to be produced for the people of Bermuda.'' Michael Dunkley BUSINESS BUC