Livestock sector in crisis (again)

Various foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks over the past few months have put the South African beef industry in a quandary. This will further escalate unless government starts governing

- Dr Koos Coetzee.

The South African red meat value chain has been severely compromised by the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) identified at Karan Beef’s Heidelberg feedlot, the country’s largest feedlot.

This has resulted in an immediate drop in weaner prices and will also lead to higher A-grade prices. In the last couple of years, outbreaks of FMD became a regular part of the South African red meat value chain.

While there is widespread consensus about ways to control FMD, it seems as if the will to do something about it is seriously lacking within government.

After Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen was appointed to the position, I had the temerity to write a letter to him and give him some advice on how he ought to manage the very difficult portfolio.

ANIMAL HEALTH ISSUES

I wrote the following in respect of animal health: “The animal production and health element of the Department of Agriculture (the department) needs a serious overhaul.

“Onderstepoort Biological Products regularly fail to produce the required vaccines. Either privatise it or kill it, and fast-track the approval of licences to the private sector to produce vaccines.