Foot-and-mouth disease, which is affecting the whole livestock industry at the moment, is one of many ANC-induced disasters.
Before 1994, the agricultural industry was assisted by the department of agricultural technical services. Staffed by experienced extension officers, this department assisted farmers with, among other things, scheduled inoculations, stock movements to sales and abattoirs, soil samples, irrigation plans, stock watering plans, farm planning, grazing and so on.
Unfortunately, in 1994, a certain minister of agriculture decided that these measures benefited white farmers, and the extension service was shut down.
In the past 31 years, the pig industry was almost closed down because of African swine fever, the ostrich industry was wiped out because of bird flu and now the livestock industry is staring disaster in the face.
Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen recently announced that emerging farmers needed help to enable them to prosper — the very help that was removed after 1994. Emerging farmers have small herds of cattle that often reflect their total wealth. One dead cow out of 10 is a 10% loss. This is huge when it could have paid for a year’s school fees.
The very service that the government removed now needs to be restarted, at great expense, to help these farmers. Inoculations need to be done on time, stock movements need to be monitored and sick animals need to be quarantined — not moved to some family in the next province because they represent an emerging farmer’s net asset base.
To add to this mess, the Onderstepoort veterinary research centre, which used to manufacture all our vaccines and even exported some, was underfunded, so that service no longer exists.
With a looming meat and milk shortage, prices are going to rocket.
Peter Gordon Grant, retired farmer
By e-mail
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