Farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs, some coming from as far as Ifugao, Mindoro Island,, Pangasinan and Rizal, yesterday joined the 1st Wagyu Beef Production Meeting in General Santos City and agreed to formally establish the first ever Philippine Wagyu Association.
Organized by a still-to-registered company, The Farm Innovations, Solutions & Technology Company (The FIST Company), the Philippine Wagyu Association (PWA) aims to assist ordinary farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs in acquiring Wagyu Breeding materials from abroad which they will raise in their backyards with technical support from company.
The FIST Company is headed by a young veterinarian who graduated Magna Cum Laude in his Advanced Animal Genetics Masters Degree In Hungary supported by the acknowledged Cattle Nutrition Expert Arnel Corpuz.
The event yesterday gathered 236 participants who joined a Techno-Demo Tour of the Great Arch Farm in Glamang, Polomolok, South Cotabato to personally see a small herd of Pure Wagyu and Wagyu crosses which I and Arnel own.
Demonstration on Silage-Making using Sorghum was also conducted including actual feeding of Cattle.
After the farm techno-demo, the participants filled the conference hall of the East Asia Royal Hotel In General Santos City where after presentations made by Dr. Fajardo, Arnel Corpuz and me, they agreed to the idea of building a Philippine Wagyu Industry involving small farmers.
All the farmers who will join the Philippine Wagyu Association will be assisted by The FIST Company in accessing breeding materials which will then be included in a Genetics Registry Database to establish the Philippine Wagyu Standards.
As the prime mover of this program, I was deeply impressed by the interest shown by the farmers who traveled from far away places just to discover how they could participate in the development of the Philippine Wagyu Industry.
