The 1,700-acre property acquired by the Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) with its purchase of SG Developments Limited is being put into corn production.

JBG is producing corn for its own use and will likely operate the farm itself, said Ian Parsard, senior vice-president for operations and finance.

The poultry producer acquired SG during its last financial year ending April 2012. It owns 100 per cent of the company.

"The land will be utilised to cultivate corn. We have completed the first pilot corn-production crop across 100 acres of land as of November 2012," Parsard told Wednesday Business.

"We are repeating this production on an increased acreage (approxi-mately 25 per cent increase) in the first half of 2013."

The final price for SG Development was not directly disclosed but the poultry group's financials report a J$117.58 million expenditure for acquisition of a subsidiary.

Broilers is growing corn as feedstock for its animal feed business. Parsard said it was too early to comment on the expected returns.

A previous report noted that the first harvest took approximately 120 days to grow, with Jamaica Broilers receiving technical assistance from Belize and the United States.

At the time, JBG also noted that it uses 11,000 metric tonnes a month, of corn, in livestock feed ration.

Corn trades on the world market at close to US$7 per bushel.

business@gleanerjm.com