By Jasper Raats
Since the beginning of March, more than 2 000 cattle have been on overall clearance sales because commercial cattle farmers in Limpopo are giving up – they can’t farm profitably. This comes in a year when the province has more than enough pasture, said Lukas Eksteen of Bufland Farming at the recent Limpopo RPO Congress in Polokwane.
Eksteen said that when it comes to weaner prices, the province’s farmers are getting the worst of the bargain and cannot compete with the farmers in the neighbouring countries, especially Botswana.
For nearly four years, Limpopo’s red meat industry fought an uphill battle against the economic impact of foot-and-mouth disease, which broke out in the province in 2019. However, the province has not had any active foot-and-mouth disease cases in the past year, and no new outbreaks have occurred.
Yet farmers still earn R2 to R2.50 per kilogram less for their feeder calves than farmers in the rest of the country (where there have been outbreaks) because Limpopo is considered a foot-and-mouth province, Eksteen said.
“While we have to sell our calves for less than the national average price, trucks full of feeder calves from Botswana cross our border. Look at any local newspaper for this impact: the overall clearance sale of herds, farmers who can no longer go on in a year that we have an abundance of pasture.”
Following the chairperson’s report of Dr Frikkie Mare, the national manager, Eksteen, said in question time that Limpopo’s farmers understand that trade relations with neighbouring countries should be protected. “But can’t we please get a level playing field?”
He asked that the national RPO and the government of South Africa negotiate with Botswana to export breeding material and stud livestock from Limpopo to SA. “Limpopo no longer has foot-and-mouth disease. This will greatly help our local farmers and level the playing field a bit more.”
Trade relations
Earlier, the RPO’s national chairman, James Faber, explained that South Africa imported more weaners from Namibia and Botswana last year than in many years. However, the numbers are insufficient to sustain one of the country’s large feedlots.
Under the African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), South Africa must be able to demonstrate that imports from those countries threaten the local industry. “Animals from those countries represent only 7% of our total slaughters, so we have to be able to prove that 7% threatens our local industries, and that’s not possible.”
Faber explained that the problem is that imports heavily affect only a few provinces, not the whole country. This makes it very difficult to show that imports threaten the local industry.
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