Farmers from a foot-and-mouth disease-free area in KwaZulu-Natal set up a control point on the bridge over the uMzimkhulu River at uMzimkhulu on Thursday (30 October) to monitor the movement of animals.

By Amelia Genis, Senior Journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad

Greg Carter-Brown, chairman of the Ingwe Farmers’ Association at Creighton in KwaZulu-Natal, says they plan to set up two more.

During meetings with the government, officials said they could not control the movement of animals, even from areas designated as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) zones. “That’s why we decided to do just that.”

Vehicles transporting animals are stopped at the checkpoint where they check whether the drivers have the right documents. Carter-Brown says they must show a certificate authorising them to transport animals, but ideally also have a certificate from a veterinarian. They are working with members of the Highflats Farmers’ Association and will eventually involve the Underberg Farmers’ Association to set up a checkpoint on the Umkomazi River.

Also read: New FMD outbreak puts Creighton’s 35 000 dairy cattle in jeopardy

Draw a line between FMD-free and not

Carter-Brown says what should actually happen in the north of South Africa is that a line should be drawn from Botswana, through the North West and the Free State, into KZN.

“The area north of it should be a foot-and-mouth disease area and south of it foot-and-mouth disease-free. There should be control points on the line to restrict the movement of cattle according to a proper plan.”

He also hopes they can soon get a vaccine to inject their animals preventively.

Carter-Brown, a maize, dairy and beef farmer, says it’s a very busy time of year for them, but they need to do something to keep the disease out of their area for as long as possible.

It is important to set up the control points now because they will receive a lot of holiday traffic in December and people from the north will most likely bring animals into the area.

Also raed: Is South Africa going to run out of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine?

Help with big expenses

Each control point costs the farmers’ associations involved more than R70 000 per month. The money goes to a security company that mans the points 24 hours a day.

Carter-Brown says they hope agricultural companies involved in the dairy and beef cattle industries can help them mitigate the cost impact.

Companies that want to help can contact him at Gjcarterbrown@gmail.com or 083 661 2854.