BAGUIO STOCK FARM TELLS A STORY

A sleeping vast tract of land comes to life as Baguio livestock farmers join hands with the department of agriculture and the National Dairy Authority to establish a privately managed livestock venture by farmers from the surrounding locality. So from a rusting Baguio Dairy farm comes a bustling productive land as government through the enterprising spirit of a few government employees who still retained their idealism to be of service to the people, one of them is a woman veterinarian who was the organizer of the cooperative, she encouraged private livestock raisers and investors within Baguio and Benguet to form an organization purposely to raise animal live stocks and produce dairy products too. During my recent visit to the site I was greatly amazed at the transformation of the stock farm, from an almost abandoned and ill maintained grassland is now a clean and wholesome place to visit. Cows and horses can be seen grazing on the mountain slopes, tall grasses are trimmed and used as fodder. People are seen lining up to buy fresh milk every morning but the demand for fresh milk is more than what the milking cows can supply. This kind of lively hood is what the Philippines need to prosper as an agricultural country. Senator Ramón B Magsaysay gave a support fund from his priority development fund of one million pesos to purchase pregnant island born dairy animals and initial operating expense of the project that has an initial proposed budget of three million six hundred seven thousand and seven hundred fifty pesos for the initial phase. With this kind of venture where private and government sector work together as in this instant case where management is purely in the hands of private managers while the technical aspect and other facilities available is from the government, represented by the National Dairy Authority and the Department of Agriculture, there is a balancing factor to curb the excesses of those who are in government, who do not have real interest in its progress because they are only interested in their salary and sidelines.