8/14/2019 Stud Farms in a Period of Recession (2)

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Stud Farms In A Period Of Recession - Co-Production (Part 2)

A major problem facing stud farm operators in this period of recession andincreasing cost is that of maintaining adequate levels of revenue flows and wherepossible increase these flows.

The challenge is that the average stud farm operator has become accustomed todepending on in the main three sources of revenues:-

a. stud feesb. fees from keep and care operations andc. Yearling sales.

This most limited and narrow approach to the creation of revenues, while it wasmaybe acceptable in better times can no longer be taken in a period of recessionand increasing factor costs if stud farm operations are to remain viable.

The current period firstly demands that stud farm operators seek tomaximize land rent and location rent. ,In other words stud farmoperators are challenged to identify additional potential sources of revenue which can be generated from the

,land while maintaining normal stud farm operations. Forsome stud farms it might mean becoming a source for the supply

.of organic fertilizer to the crop production sector With a single(50) ,horse producing some fifty pounds of waste per day the

average stud farm would have what to sell in terms of organic, - . ,fertilizer be it pre composted or composted For other stud farms

it might mean the production of mushrooms for sale to the tourism

. ,industry or to the local market Still for others it might mean theworking with medical doctors and mental health workers inproviding therapy aimed at assisting individuals to overcome given

, ,handicaps in coping with lose or in regaining use of given sets of.muscles etc ere one is speaking about using thenfrastructure and land as is or with small low costodifications to produce new revenue flows while.aintaining customary sources of revenue

The second approach is based on seeking to maximize location rent, here one isseeking about those additional sources of revenue which can be generated as aresult of the location of the given stud farm operation. A stud farm for example

near to a tourist resort or near to sizeable commercial operations, can earn anincome from regular once a month or twice a month specialty game lunches

(lunches with bird meat, wild pig meat, etc). What would prevent a studfarm in St. Catherine from providing the restaurant at CaymanasTrack or the Hilton Hotel in Kingston, once per month with specialtyyard cooked game lunches?The simple answer would be a lack ofcreativity.

8/14/2019 Stud Farms in a Period of Recession (2)

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For other stud farms, it might mean the renting of a tent space to a new Church that is

entering the village or town but not having a place of worship. A bit of worship, somesongs and prayer surely would not disturb the peace of a broodmare that had a previous

career at Caymanas Park. Here stud farm operators would need to overcome their fear of

speaking with Church people, the Pastor has his congregation to take care of and the Studfarm operator has his horses to take care of, two very different non-competing interests.

Some stud farms might look at providing occasional Coney Islandtype entertainment packages. A stud farm near to a residentialcenter, would not have much problems offering quarterly or biannualConey island, fun-land type operations, especially if it partnered witha local primary school. Here once again the challenge is one ofimagination and nothing else.

The current period of recession and increasing costs, demands that stud farmoperators take a much wider view of the assets at their disposal, be those assetsbe in the form of property rights or location or in the form of un used or underutilized output from normal stud farm operations, and seek to deploy thoseassets in such a manner leading to the creation of new flows of revenue.

Basil Fletcher