FMD: Government upbeat, little comment from industry

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – The Department of Agriculture’s “strategic objective” is to vaccinate 80% of South Africa’s national cattle herd – which is around 14 million animals – against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) by December this year, according to a media statement on 12 May.

“The vaccination campaign is central to South Africa’s long-term strategy of achieving and maintaining ‘FMD free with vaccination’ status, while reducing the economic and social damage caused by recurring outbreaks,” it said.

It said it had imported 8 million doses since late February, and that a further 5 million doses would arrive “shortly”.

It said South Africa needed to cooperate with neighbouring states to fight the disease. Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen said: “One of the clearest lessons from South America is that you cannot defeat this disease in isolation. Cows do not carry passports. If one country acts alone, the risk remains for everyone. That is why we are working closely with our neighbours to build a truly regional response. We must move beyond simply reacting to outbreaks and establish a SADC antigen bank so that Southern Africa can rapidly access vaccines when they are needed most, without relying on lengthy international procurement processes.”

It said he would chair a meeting of SADC agriculture ministers in Zimbabwe to establish a regional platform for animal movement control, livestock traceability, and coordinated response mechanisms for transboundary animal diseases.

“We have seen the pain, the uncertainty and the economic damage this disease has inflicted on farming communities across our country. I have made a commitment that if we continue implementing this plan at scale and with urgency, this must be the last major Foot and Mouth

Disease outbreak to devastate our people. We are fighting this disease with everything we have, and we stand firmly with our farmers.”

There has been criticism of the department’s approach from various quarters. However, response from the leather value chain has been muted.

S&V African Leather asked several role players the following:

• By comparison with ‘normal’ times, in numbers or in percentages (or both), how much has the slaughter of cattle in SA dropped so far this year?
• Have the figures been improving, and if so, by how much?
• Do you feel the Department of Agriculture’s vaccination campaign has been done well?
• Is it working?
• Do you think there were alternatives, and if so, what?
• Has the SA Feedlot Association taken a position on this?
• Is there an end in sight to FMD in SA (or commercial farming parts of SA)?
• When can the leather industry in SA expect normal volumes of hides to resume?
• Is there a long-term strategy to prevent future outbreaks of FMD or similar?

Avron Karan, director of Karan Beef, the country’s largest cattle feedlot, wrote: “Most of these questions will need to be posed to SA Feedlot Association or RMIS. We do not speak for the industry; we are just one of the role players.

“Unfortunately, when you ask about strategy and protocols, these are up to the department of Agriculture, they have been leading the way forward.

“I do believe the number of cattle on feed will increase during the year. The whole cattle supply chain has been affected negatively and will take time to get back to normal.

“I am not much help, but these are really questions the industry body should be answering.”

Cape Produce Company is the country’s largest bovine wet blue tannery, but MD Greg Feinberg wrote: “I really can’t add value to a discussion in this regard.  For sure our numbers have been impacted these last few months as abattoirs have been limited in their slaughter due to both the availability of cattle and the limited movement allowed; but I’m not close enough to the detail to give comment around the root causes and solutions.”

The SA Feedlot Association did not respond to several requests for comment.