Farmer’s Weekly – 02 August 2019

2 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 19

A string of farm attacks across the

Western Cape has resulted in increased

awareness of safety and security

among farmers and agricultural

communities in the province,

according to Jannie Strydom, chief

executive of Agri Western Cape.

He recently addressed members

of the Agricultural Writers South

Africa’s !Xhariep region to discuss

their upcoming annual conference,

as well as pressing issues in the

region’s agriculture sector.

According to Strydom, the Western

Cape’s agriculture sector had been

too comfortable for too long.

“Recently, there has been a fairly

sharp increase in safety awareness.

“We have also picked up a great

increase in interest among our

members in associations for farm

watch systems and radios.”

He added that the current level

of violence used by assailants was

unprecedented, as was seen in a

recent attack near Bonnievale in

which a farmer was killed and

his wife seriously injured.

Strydom called on farmers to

act proactively, and safeguard

themselves and their workers.

Although he could not attribute the

current spate of farm murders and

attacks to any specific reason, he said

that farmers were soft targets due

to their usually remote location.

Strydom expressed his gratitude

for the approach taken by the Western

Cape MECs for agriculture, Dr Ivan

Meyer, and community safety,

Advocate Albert Fritz, in addressing

rural safety in the province.

“Rural security is a major priority

for them, which they address with

great energy and passion.”

He also referred to the national Rural

Safety Strategy, saying that organised

agriculture was still waiting for

government to implement this strategy.

“The plan [was due to be] launched

on 28 February, but was postponed.

We’ve been notified that the new

implementation date is 15 August.”

• Jeandré van der Walt

RuRal Safety

Greater security awareness among Western Cape farmers

The importance of disease

management in the South African

agriculture sector, especially

in the livestock industry, was

again emphasised at the recent

National Animal Health Forum

(NAHF) and Agricultural

Writers South Africa liaison

workshop held in Pretoria.

According to Dr Pieter Vervoort,

a veterinarian and the managing

director of the NAHF, it was

hoped that the educational

and awareness programmes

set up by the Department of

Agriculture, Rural Development

and Land Reform (department

of agriculture) and the NAHF

would help producers,

particularly small-scale farmers,

understand the important

role of good biosecurity in

livestock operations.

He said this was particularly

relevant for diseases such

as African swine fever (AFS).

He added that the trend of

small-scale farmers failing to

practise biosecurity measures

was not a local phenomenon,

BioSecuRity

‘Educational programmes on biosecurity

vital for smallholder farmers’

but was also prevalent in

countries such as China

and Vietnam, where it had

exacerbated the spread of AFS.

Vervoort explained that

farmers sometimes sent

pigs to market even if they

suspected that the animals

had been infected. A solution

to this problem could include

offering incentives to declare

such infections, he said.

The majority of ASF outbreaks

reported in South Africa this

year had occurred on smallholder

pig farms, according to the

outbreak and surveillance

update report published by the

department of agriculture in July.

Twelve outbreaks of ASF had

been reported since April, all

outside the ASF-controlled area.

During July, two outbreaks were

reported near Nigel in Gauteng

and Koppies in the Free State.

Four separate outbreaks

occurred near Nigel, with illness

and mortalities first reported

in a communal herd of pigs,

which the state veterinarian in

the area confirmed to be ASF.

Trade through local auction

yards was identified as a

likely source of infection,

the report said. Further

outbreaks were reported in

two ‘backyard’ pig operations

and another communal herd.

“Koppies experienced two

outbreaks. The first reported

outbreak was in pigs from

a communal area that had

started dying, and the state

veterinarian confirmed ASF.

“The second was reported

on a smallholding where acute

mortalities were observed

after the owner had visited

the communal area of the

first outbreak,” the report

said. – Siyanda Sishuba

auction yards

have been

identified as

likely sources

of infection