Fears for SA dairy farmers

Demands for government to declare KZN a disaster area as an uncontained outbreak could threaten milk supplies

- WENDY JASSON DA COSTA

SUPPLIES of milk, butter and cheese could be at risk as the country's dairy industry faces an escalating crisis, with foot and mouth disease (FMD) spreading "like a veld fire" across KwaZulu-Natal.

Earlier this week, the broader livestock industry, under the umbrella of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu), urgently called for the formal declaration of FMD as a provincial disaster.

While there's no milk shortage yet, industry leaders warn that without urgent state intervention and mass vaccination, the situation could take a turn for the worse.

"We are not at the panic stage yet," said Fanie Ferreira, CEO of the Milk Producers Organisation. "But we can get there."

He says currently there is "more than enough milk in South Africa", and the situation is likely to remain stable, given that the country is entering its "spring flush" — when dairy cows in KZN, the Eastern Cape and parts of the Southern Cape begin calving, and production rises by as much as 50%.

"From here on, we produce more milk day by day," said Ferreira.

But he cautioned that if FMD spreads south across the N3, or into larger herds, things could turn increasingly grim. "It's not in play yet, but it can very easily shift. That's what everyone is worried about."

Ferreira says that unlike beef cattle, which typically recover from FMD within days, dairy cows are severely affected.

"About 80% of infected dairy cows develop severe mastitis," he said. "Of those, 20% don't survive and must be culled."

He warned that the period between mid-May and early August, based on outbreaks over the past two years, is when "its at its worst".