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Dr Frikkie Maré of the National Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (National RPO) had the opportunity to discuss producers’ challenges at the foot-and-mouth (FMD) Indaba held from 21 to 22 July at the ARC-VIMP campus, Roodeplaat. Dr Maré stressed a few points of interest.
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Market access
- FMD does not kill animals, but it economically cuts the throats of producers as our market is lost.
- We must remember two important things. Firstly, producers’ revenue, in many cases, are limited to one or two payments per year. Secondly, the total gross margin of producers vary from year to year.
- This means that the timing of when a producer is placed under quarantine, is critical.
- When a producer is placed under quarantine just before weaning, they basically lose their income for that year. This happened in KwaZulu-Natal where the disease management area (DMA) was expanded just before the onset of weaning and those farmers still have their calves and are without income, while they are taken to court for outstanding bills.
- The past two years were very difficult for livestock producers in terms of market conditions. This means that farmers currently have very little to no reserves to fall back on while they cannot generate revenue.
- The fact of the matter is that many farmers currently under quarantine will not survive this crisis.
Regulations
- We often hear that FMD is spread by irresponsible producers not following regulations. That cannot be denied, but irresponsible parties in the rest of the value chain as well as in government institutions are also to blame.
- Although many follow the regulations to the letter, others just do not care, and they get away if it. Deputy director-general Serage said at a previous meeting that the law is there to be followed, not to be enforced. Although it is certainly the ideal situation, it unfortunately does not always work like that in South Africa.
- If we cannot ensure that regulations are followed by every role-player in the value chain, it is in vain.
Provincial Joint Operational Centres (JOCs)
- Unfortunately there are major differences between provinces. In some JOCs the relationship between government and industry is excellent, while in others they are non-existent.
- We receive reports that traffic and police attendees only attend the first meeting and don’t know what it is about, what they should do if they stop a vehicle with livestock, or what documentation should accompany the animals.
Fencing Act and stray animals
- Although we have a Fencing Act 1963, (Act 31 of 1963) that states you should own or rent fenced land in order to keep animals, this is not enforced.
- The movement of stray and unidentified animals is a major concern and has to be addressed.
- It does not matter how good your biosecurity rules are, if stray animals graze along your fence or unidentified animals mix with others at a gathering, all rules, regulations and tracing are in vain.
In conclusion
Commercial producers are literally living in fear, as many know that their farming days are over if they are quarantined under the current guidelines.
The National RPO would like to see solutions for the following problems coming from the Indaba:
- Continued market access for all role-players. This can be achieved by compartmental vaccination by application.
- Regulations that are not only carefully thought-out, but practically implementable, agreed to by role-players, and most importantly, enforced.
- A national blueprint followed by all provinces and training for involved parties on how to deal with a FMD outbreak to eradicate the provincial differences and get law enforcement involved.
- Finally, all role-players, big or small, primary or secondary, government or industry, being treated the same. – Press release, National RPO
