Farmers Despair Amid Fmd Outbreak

It is often the wives of livestock farmers who phone agricultural network Saai’s emergency line, worried not about financial losses from the severe, nationwide  foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak but the emotional collapse unfolding at home.

“We had a few calls from wives or children of farmers who say that they are very concerned about the dad because of the situation the FMD has put them in,” Saai chairperson Theo de Jager said. “For some reason, all of them were dairy farmers so far.”

The calls were alarming enough for Saai to establish a dedicated emergency mental health line, drawing on lessons from sister organisations in India and the UK, where farmer suicide has become a grim reality.

In South Africa, the psychological toll of FMD is colliding with debt, regulatory paralysis and the emotional weight of generational loss.

“For some reason, farmers don’t want to talk about it; it’s hard to get them to say I need help,” De Jager said.

Saai partnered with rights group AfriForum’s trauma centre to access trained counsellors and psychiatrists. “We decided that we will use the network, which they have established, of psychiatrists and people trained in counselling and then try to get families of farmers to contact us, if they see there is depression.”

Losing more than income

The pressure on farmers is relentless. “When the banks start calling them and the cooperatives because they haven’t paid their monthly dues and accounts, they cannot pay school fees, this is what it is all about.”

But for many dairy farmers, the crisis runs deeper than cash flow. It strikes at identity, legacy and generations of work. “It’s this issue of I’m now going to lose my farm, which my grandfather or my great grandfather started, so I’m the generation losing the cows,”  De Jager said.

Those cows represent genetics developed over decades. When FMD hits dairy herds, the losses are often irreversible.

The emotional burden of euthanising animals farmers have bred and cared for over years is immense.

“Last week, there was a farmer who called and said his neighbour asked him to come and shoot his cattle because he cannot do it himself,” De Jager said. “It’s the end of your business; there will be no income now.”

Painful, distressing and often fatal

The suffering caused by FMD is not only financial. For affected cattle, particularly dairy cows, it is intensely physical and often fatal.

“The virus causes painful blisters in the mouth, on the tongue and between the hooves, turning basic activities like eating and walking into agonising experiences,” said Fanie Ferreira, the head of theMilk Producers Organisation. “Affected cows often become visibly lame, struggle to consume feed and show clear signs of discomfort and stress.” 

High fevers further weakened the animals, leaving them lethargic and vulnerable. 

“The disease is also often fatal for dairy cows.”

Painful sores on the teats made milking extremely uncomfortable and increased the risk of secondary infections such as mastitis. Reduced feed intake resulted in rapid weight loss and a sharp decline in milk yield, while heavily pregnant cows might abort due to the stress and fever associated with the infection.

Ferreira said the difference between beef and dairy cattle outcomes was stark. “In most beef cattle, the animal recovers within days, while in dairy cattle the disease often damages the cow’s udder to such an extent that she cannot recover to a productive stage.”

He said FMD was not only an animal health and production issue but a serious animal welfare concern.“Infected dairy cows can endure prolonged pain and suffering without timely control measures.”

A business unravelling

Beyond animal welfare, the disease placed enormous pressure on farmers. South Africa’s farmers faced severe financial and operational strain, compounded by emotional distress as they witnessed the suffering of their herds, Ferreira said.

Many felt frustrated by the slow flow of information around the outbreak and their limited ability to protect animals without quick access to vaccines. 

The immediate effects were stark. Milk production declined sharply, while veterinary treatment and enhanced biosecurity measures significantly increased operating costs. 

Some animals died or had to be culled, wiping out years of breeding investment. Disease outbreaks disrupted the entire production cycle, forcing farmers to revise financial planning and operate under prolonged uncertainty.

Rebuilding a genetically superior dairy herd after severe losses was a lengthy and costly process, he said, with the consequences affecting economic stability, operational continuity, possible impacts on progeny and the long-term sustainability of farming businesses.

Strict movement restrictions were necessary to control the spread of the disease although they come with unavoidable consequences. Beef supply chains were particularly vulnerable due to livestock movement, while the dairy sector was less exposed.

Importantly, processed milk and dairy products neither posed a risk to human health nor did contribute to the spread of FMD. 

“From a dairy perspective, the industry has thus far managed to maintain the supply of milk and dairy products without experiencing drastic disruptions or significant changes in consumer prices.”

Vaccines arrive, frustration remains

On Saturday, the first consignment of a million high-potency FMD vaccines arrived in South Africa from Argentina, with further shipments expected from Botswana and Turkey.

The department of agriculture said that by the end of March, more than five million vaccines would have entered the country from the three international suppliers.

“Vaccines are arriving, the system is scaling up and compliance will be enforced. Working together, we will stabilise the sector and rebuild confidence in South Africa’s animal-health system,” said Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen. 

While the arrival of vaccines was a “positive step by the government”, for vaccination efforts to be effective, they needed to be rolled out comprehensively, Ferreira said. 

“For that we need a total of 28 million doses of vaccine over a period of, say, eight months. Vaccination needs to be followed up after six months … Ultimately, vaccination is a crucial tool but it must form part of a coordinated national strategy, rather than being applied in a piecemeal or reactive manner.”

Deep frustration remains. 

“One million vaccines arrived on Saturday,” De Jager said. “I can guarantee you if it was a farmers’ organisation or a commodity organisation … the vaccines would have been out all over the country by Sunday morning and most of it would have been in the cattle by now.”

‘Country is a bloodbath’

The consequences were also social and emotional, Ferreira said, affecting the well-being of farming families as well as farm workers and their families. “Prolonged uncertainty and operational disruption place significant strain on livelihoods, contributing to heightened anxiety, stress and insecurity.”

Nick Serfontein, the chairperson of the Sernick Group, which operates throughout the beef value chain, has lived through the outbreak at farm level. “We got foot-and-mouth on the farm and on the feedlot in October. We had to slaughter all the cattle in the feedlot immediately, so we lost a lot of money there. It’s an extremely contagious disease.”

He described the national picture in stark terms. “We’ve got foot and mouth in nine provinces. The country is a bloodbath.” 

Livestock accounts for roughly half of agricultural GDP — a figure he expects to fall sharply. “The first vaccines from Argentina arrived on Saturday; only one million. We’ve got 14 million cattle to vaccinate. Twice. Cattle are dying, calves are dying, pigs are dying and dairy cows by the thousands.”

The consequences would reach consumers too, said Serfontein, who emphasised that beef was 100% safe for human consumption. “I tell you now meat is going to get … ridiculously expensive because there is going to be a shortage of supply.”

“A farmer needs to plan … but at the moment they can’t make plans because they’re in the dark … It’s not a matter of if you’ll get it [FMD] but when. Auctions are being cancelled and we reckon only 20% of outbreaks are being reported. Why? The moment you report it, you are under quarantine for a year under the present regulations, so you can’t sell cattle.”

Frikkie Maré, the chief executive of the Red Meat Producers Organisation, said the impact of the outbreak was primarily economic but also emotional. 

“The first is loss in reproduction, where we see cows aborting and calves dying. The second is loss in production, where animals cannot eat and in feedlots they have to stand longer on their feet. 

“The last influence is due to quarantine periods, where you cannot sell anything — it’s a big cash flow problem … Farmers really care for their animals. To see them suffer from lesions, abortions or mastitis is a very big emotional burden. It’s emotionally bad when you cannot pay bills, your workers or your medical aid. There’s no cash flow, no money.”

Farmers are at breaking point, Serfontein added. “Hundreds of cattle farmers will not survive this; don’t rule out suicide.”