Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) recently hosted their annual Baconer’s Brunch for the agricultural media, where it was reaffirmed that the South African pork industry is in a good place – despite uncertainties on the local and global front.
Stephen Butt, general manager of Butt Farming, facilitated the event and said the fact that most of the pork value chain is owned by families rather than large corporations, means there is a personal interest on the side of owners to ensure they have a positive impact on the world around them.
“Our producers positively impact on other agricultural industries as well, because most pig farms are diversified into other industries, such as avocado production, dairy, etc. We don’t make the world better because we are compelled by a corporate social investment (CSI) programme, but rather because we know if we make things better for those around us, it will have a positive impact on our family’s business,” he explained.
Given the South African realities, Butt added that in many areas farms are now also the only employer in many of the rural areas. “Farmers are often undervalued, but the reality is that they take it upon themselves to restore broken infrastructure and look after the ecology.”
Healthy pork
Karen Heath, a senior researcher at the Noakes Foundation, said it is critical that myths surrounding pork should be addressed – especially within the fitness community. “I once had a discussion with an athlete who doesn’t eat any pork because he heard that pork could cause gout. This is totally untrue. In fact, pork and beef contain the same amount of purine.” Purine is a type of organic compound in food that the body breaks down to form uric acid, which can cause gout.
Heath said there is still a lot of other myths surrounding the health benefits of animal protein and fat in particular, that needs to be dispelled. However, the industry also has to look at issues such as feed, antibiotics, and growth hormones, as all of these factors can impact how healthy the final product is for end consumers.
Animal welfare
Prof Esté van Marle-Köster, researcher at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, said 30 years ago nobody spoke about the current buzz term “animal welfare”, but everybody knew about animal husbandry. “So, it’s not that the industry didn’t care about welfare, but the terminology has changed.”
Animal husbandry has also evolved significantly over the years. “Rules surrounding animal housing has become more stringent in Europe, as well as locally,” Prof van Marle-Köster said, adding that one needed to keep in mind that European models could not simply be transferred to South Africa. “We must keep in mind that issues such as heat stress are of much higher concern to us than it is to Europe. So, even though consumers might be pressuring the industry to adhere to European rules, we have to think about the local realities.”
Butt said while farmers often think of animal welfare as a negative thing, the reality is that proper welfare practices could lead to greater financial gains as greater welfare will lead to healthier animals that can produce more and need less input, like medication.
Education is key to growth
Dawie Roodt, chief economist of the Efficient Group, said the romantic notion of somebody being a struggling subsistence farmer will never fuel economic growth. “Agriculture today is a corporate business and the guy owning a pig farm is a manager – not a farmer. The job ‘farmer’ doesn’t exist anymore.”
Therefore, the future employees of the agricultural sector will need to be highly skilled individuals. “This is a problem, because the majority of South African children cannot read and write,” Roodt said, adding that one should not be blinded by the country’s educational barriers. “Education is one of the fields that I love, because technology has brought the best global schooling options to our fingertips.”
An audience member asked Roodt about his remark that small and emerging farmers don’t have a role to play in the economy. To this he answered, “The only benefit of a small business is that they can become large. But we need to be realistic. All business is propelled by skills and technology. So, if a business does not have the necessary skilled people, the chance of real success is basically non-existent.” – Susan Marais, Plaas Media
