The price of meat is likely to remain high after the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (Dalrrd), Thoko Didiza, took the decision to suspend all movement of cattle in South Africa due to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
In a statement released yesterday, Dalrrd spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said the minister’s decision was aimed at halting the continued spread of FMD in the country.
The ban will be declared in the Government Gazette, and any disregard of the movement ban will be a criminal offence. Exceptions would only be allowed upon veterinary permit for cattle for direct slaughter at registered abattoirs and slaughter for ritual purposes.
“It also means that cattle may not be moved from one property to another for any reason for a period of 21 days, reviewable weekly. The country is currently experiencing 116 outbreaks of FMD, involving farms, feedlots and communal areas in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Free State provinces,” Ngcobo said.
Industry experts, at the time of going to print, had yet to respond to requests for comment on how the move would affect exports and prices.
However, last month Agricultural Business Chamber chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said the one essential product whose price trend remained uncertain was meat, since the outbreaks of FMD had led to the temporary closure of some key export markets for the red meat industry.
He said that ordinarily this would add downward pressure on prices as it implied that the country would see an increase in domestic meat supplies. However, at the time he said that the spread of the outbreak was vast, to an extent that the country might see a decline in slaughtering in major feedlots, which would ultimately keep red meat prices at relatively higher levels.
“This remains uncertain and we will closely monitor the monthly slaughtering activity,” Sihlobo said at the time.
On Monday he said that the spread of FMD in the livestock industry had intensified from the end of April, translating into the export of wool, beef and other livestock products facing restrictions in key markets such as China, mainly from May on.
Didiza yesterday acknowledged the efforts made by farmers, communities and industries to curb illegal movements of animals from known positive areas, and to improve biosecurity on animal holdings. However, the disease continues to spread, with 15 new properties and two new provinces affected in the past two weeks alone.
“Cattle that are already at shows, auctions and en route into the republic will be given 48 hours to be permitted to move to final destinations. After being sold, the local state veterinary office should be contacted for these permits” said Didiza.
Didiza warned perpetrators that were illegally moving cattle that they would be prosecuted for contravention of the Animal Diseases Act.
The minister said she recognised the disruption that the movement ban would cause in the normal business of many sectors.
“For this reason, the ban is only applicable to cattle, as the movement of cattle was identified as the main cause of the continued spread of the outbreaks. However, the public is reminded that all cloven-hoofed animals can spread Foot and Mouth Disease Virus, and the movement of sheep, goats, pigs and cloven-hoofed game animals should also be handled with the necessary caution,” Didiza said.
Members of the public were advised to contact their District State Veterinary Services or their private veterinarians immediately should they see animals showing suspicious clinical symptoms such as salivation, blisters in the mouth, limping or hoof lesions.
BUSINESS REPORT