From a construction giant to a busy farmer, the soft-spoken Kent Rankin is now a titan in local farming circles.

As such, he earned the Minister’s Award for the Most Outstanding Farmer. He also took home trophies as runner-up for Livestock Farmer of the year for Grand Cayman, Crop Farmer of the Year, Grand Cayman and Champion Exhibitor – Pigs, in the 2013 Agriculture Show.

At his core, Mr. Rankin, or “Biggie” as he is better known, has always been a farmer. He has a strong love for the land and says he has a sense of accomplishment on seeing a harvest come in, or witnessing the birth of animals on his farm. Plus, he knows that in his own way, he is making these islands a little better for the people, because through his efforts, people are able to put quality food, produced locally on their tables.

Premier and Minister of Agriculture Hon. Juliana Connor-Connolly congratulated Mr. Rankin on his work and winning the top farming award on Grand Cayman.

“We talk about fork-to-table foods, but Biggie takes this concept to a new level. Nothing on his farm goes to waste. What he doesn’t sell goes to his jerk stand. The waste from the animals — the pigs in particular — is converted to fuel.

“His efforts are inspiring and the fact that he takes nothing for granted and has invested his heart and soul into farming earned him the Minister’s Award,” she added.

Mr. Rankin was born with a love of the land. He says he doesn’t know where this love or the passion for growing came from, because his maternal grandparents, the McFields, were builders and fisherman and his paternal grandparents were merchants, which makes him the sole farmer in the family.

Even as a young boy, Mr. Rankin kept chickens, pigs and goats. But he had to give up his young farming efforts, because at age 16 he went to sea to earn a living.

He returned three years later, got married and decided to return to farming. So he purchased six cows. A few years later, he purchased the land where Rankin’s Jerk Stand and Butcher Shop now stand and where the family home is located. He also leased land in the area now known as Industrial Park, for $5 a year to keep his herd of cows.

He grew his farm to include chickens and pigs. But as Grand Cayman started to develop, Industrial Park became a bussing commercial area, so he scaled back his operation and began to focus on construction, although he still dabbled in farming.  During the time when he resided in George Town, Mr. Rankin and his helper, Ms. Jen, planted callaloo, peppers and okra. They sold the produce to By-Rite Supermarket.

It was when he moved to Bodden Town in 1986 that things really started to take off. “This is where I really started to grow. I started with 19 acres of property,” Mr. Rankin recalled. He now has 61 acres, 178 cows and 400 pigs and produces 3,000 chickens every month.

The land in Bodden Town was very rocky, but Biggie found a way. Using a rock crusher owned by Justin Woods (current president of the Cayman Islands Agriculture Society), he mowed down the rocky landscape and covered it with topsoil. Little by little, the farm grew, as did his knowledge for making things work in his favour.

After going to a farming convention, he saw how farmers artificially inseminated pigs. So he ordered the tapes and within a couple of months, had taught himself how to do it. During those early days, he had a 55 per cent success rate.

“I artificially inseminated the pigs, because we needed to keep the bloodline strong,” Mr. Rankin explained.

Another hurdle he overcame was getting scallions to grow. So he tested the soil and found that the water was too salty. After a couple years, he found the right blend of soil, sand, chicken manure and purified water from which the salt is removed. It took years, but he now has a bumper crop of scallion.

Mr. Rankin attributes much of his success to the support he receives from the Department of Agriculture. “I am grateful to the Department of Agriculture’s Mr. Raymond Coleman. I depend on his expertise and he fixes the problems. He knows plants and visits my farms at least once a week, sometimes more, if there is a problem. He is always in the field. I am also very grateful for Drs. Joseph Jackman and Alfred Benjamin for their local knowledge.

Having an organised farming operation is also key to Mr. Rankin’s success.

“I have my farm set up in such a way that nothing goes to waste,” he explained.

“Most of the animal waste is recycled. For example, the chicken waste is used as fertilizer; the pig waste goes through to the bio gas system, which we use to fuel a generator to heat the pig pens when it gets too cold. The surplus crops are fed back to the cows and the pigs,” he added.

Mr. Rankin and his crew know when pigs or cows are in season.  “We take care of them right down the line. We know almost down to the day when they are going to give birth,” he said.

Mr. Rankin prides himself on his cattle. “At first I had to import 100 head of cows from Jamaica each year. But now I no longer need to do this. I rear enough these days that I don’t need bring in cattle.”

Never taking anything for granted, Mr. Rankin acknowledged that whether or not farming is hard work, “I do it because I loved it. I love everything about farming.”

He noted: “One of the things I would like to see is more support from our local supermarkets. I can easily supply the entire Cayman Islands with scallion, cucumber, sweet pepper, okra, pumpkin, squash and carrots, plus the traditional ground foods. We have just about everything on our farm.”

He is pleased with receiving the Minister’s Award and grateful to the Cayman Islands Agriculture Society for hosting the recent Agriculture Show.

“The Show is a great way for us farmers to share our pride in farming, our accomplishments and our knowledge. I feel good that I have provided something that the public needs and appreciates,” he stated.

Photo

Kent Rankin shows Premier Hon. Juliana Connor-Connolly this year tomatoes crops along with Government representative Jonathan Jackson, Raymond Coleman during recent farm tours.