Camargo Producers Receive 63 Tonnes of Subsidised Dairy Concentrate
Dairy producers from the municipality of Camargo received the shipment at the El Mimbre collection centre in the rural community of Altavista. The delivery was coordinated with the state government and was described as an emergency measure for producing areas in south-central Chihuahua.
Local representatives said the subsidised supply would provide direct operational support to dozens of farming families whose income depends on daily milking. The feed was made available at preferential prices and without commercial intermediaries, according to the report by La Voz de Chihuahua.
Camargo is part of a regional dairy corridor that also includes Delicias, Meoqui and Saucillo. Farms in the area use specialised and semi-confined herds. At the Altavista receiving facility, farmers place morning milk volumes in rapid-cooling tanks that keep raw milk at about 4°C.
The concentrate is used alongside fibre from local crop residues and stubble. The source said that energy and protein in the ration are important for maintaining lactating cows and for meeting laboratory requirements for milk composition. Fat and crude-protein levels affect the bonuses producers receive when milk is delivered to processing plants and cheese makers.
Feed accounts for between 68% and 72% of the current cost of producing a litre of milk in the Chihuahua semidesert, according to the article. Repeated drought has affected grazing land and increased the cost of irrigated crops, while higher prices for dried alfalfa and maize silage have led some farms to borrow from forage distributors.
The subsidy can leave producers with funds for veterinary medicines, electricity for pumping and milking-parlour maintenance. Producers said continued institutional support would be needed for feed supplies and remunerative prices at collection centres. Local livestock committees, the state Congress and agricultural authorities were identified as the parties involved in coordinating further assistance.
