3 November 2023
By: Carien Kruger
State aid to broiler chicken farmers affected by highly contagious bird flu will help keep consumer prices low and assist affected farmers, says the broiler chicken organisation.
Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of the South African Poultry Association’s broiler chicken organisation, says outbreaks of the H7 and H5 avian influenza strains have led to the culling of 8,5 million chickens this year. The total includes slightly more than 2,5 million broiler breeder hens and about 6 million of the layer flock.
“This is a significant portion of the national flock. Many poultry farmers have been severely affected and are not compensated in accordance with the Animal Diseases Act (Act 35 of 1994) for their losses,” he said in a statement.
Reports of outbreaks indicate the infection rate has passed its peak and the recovery process is under way.
The broiler chicken industry has taken steps to mitigate the worst effects of the outbreak, such as importing fertilised eggs to replace the lost chickens. A total of 83 million fertilized eggs have been ordered from abroad.
Other steps to mitigate shortages of chicken meat include:
- Using unaffected flocks for an additional two to three weeks longer than before to allow more eggs to hatch,
- Hatching second-grade eggs, and
- Using strategic reserves of frozen chicken to fill shortages during the festive season. The reserves are from winter when demand was lower. After the usual peak in demand in December, supply and demand are expected to be balanced.
Breitenbach expects the volume of imported chicken meat to remain stable and increase in the next three months, supplementing local supply.
“The industry expects shortages during the festive season to be minimal due to its swift action,” he said. “Speculation about huge shortages of chicken meat this year and next year is therefore not based on facts and does not take these recent developments into account.”
The industry’s actions demonstrate its resilience, but farmers are struggling to recover costs and it is necessary to change policies to support them, he said.
“Government is looking at ways…”
Deputy President Paul Mashatile recently said “the government is looking at ways to compensate poultry farmers affected by the recent outbreak of avian influenza”. He referred to a scheme worth R3,5 billion.
Breitenbach says an emergency fund from which farmers can recover their costs and repopulate their flocks will be much more beneficial for local consumers, producers and the economy than refunding tax on a small quantity of imports which will arrive only next year.
“The proposed tariff rebate (on chicken meat imports) is based on an assumed shortage of chicken meat, which may not be the case. There is a small expectation that a rebate on imports will reduce the consumer price of poultry,” he said.
