Shortly after foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was diagnosed in the dairy herd of Bull van Rensburg, a fellow farmer phoned him to offer support and remind him there is life after foot-and-mouth disease. Now, this Humansdorp farmer wants to encourage others facing the same crisis.
By Alani Janeke, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Within the first two months after the outbreak began on 1 May 2024 among the approximately 2 500 dairy cows on his farm Groenwei Boerdery, Bull van Rensburg’s veterinary costs increased almost fivefold. The quarantine on his farm was only lifted on 6 June 2025.
He estimates his losses over the 13 months of quarantine at about R5 000 per cow for 1 500 cows, amounting to roughly R7,5 million.
“It’s ugly. It’s not something I’ll be able to recover from in my lifetime. It’s a year we simply have to put behind us,” he says.
Heavy Losses and Hard Decisions
In total, 370 of Van Rensburg cows became seriously ill, and he had to cull 153 animals.
Dairy cattle, he says, are particularly badly affected by FMD because they develop secondary infections, such as mastitis and foot rot. Getting through the outbreak required him to let go of sentiment in his farming operation, he says, particularly when it came to older dairy cows.
He was only able to send animals for slaughter eight months after the outbreak. Had the necessary measures around an FMD-designated abattoir been implemented sooner, he would have been able to slaughter some of these animals earlier and earn an income.
“I would advise any farmer, if you are given the opportunity to vaccinate your animals because the disease is in your area, don’t hesitate. You will only lose if you don’t.”
Also read: FMD | Vaccine still on its way – ‘Keep your farm gates closed!’
‘Invest in Your Own Physical and Mental Health Too’
“Sometimes you wake up at night and you see those cows you had to shoot all over again. I’m not saying it’s a quick fix, but if there is medical intervention that can help you get through a crisis, use it,” Van Rensburg says.
A few weeks after the outbreak, his wife put him in the car and took him to the doctor after speaking to him and realising she could not hear or understand what he was saying. The doctor prescribed medication to help him concentrate.
“The pressure that foot-and-mouth disease places on your mental health is real.”
The FMD crisis is now being followed by one of the worst droughts the farm has experienced in 20 years. At one point, one of his business partners told Van Rensburg that the “FMD crisis is just another drought”. That comment shifted his perspective, he says, as they have survived many droughts before.
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