The Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) warmly welcomes Minister John Steenhuisen’s announcement that South Africa will now vaccinate the entire national cattle herd of approximately 7.2 million animals against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
This policy shift is regarded as a bold and correct move that can finally resolve the crisis-level damage in the industry.For most extensive cattle farmers, FMD is not primarily a health issue (the disease is mild and animals recover fully) but an economic disaster. Once a herd is vaccinated, it loses access to normal marketing channels and weaner calves can no longer be sold; animals may only go for direct slaughter.
This cripples the cow-calf system that forms the backbone of South African beef production, while feedlots remain under quarantine for months, causing bottlenecks and price distortions.With nationwide vaccination, weaner producers will regain market access, feedlots can resume normal operations, and the entire red meat value chain can return to regular flow. The RPO and its partners in the Red Meat Primary Cluster have been lobbying for exactly this solution for some time.The challenges ahead are enormous: the massive logistics, securing sufficient vaccine (through the revival of OBP and the ARC as well as private-sector laboratories), and renegotiating export markets. Nevertheless, this is seen as the first real, tangible step in the right direction to pull the industry back from the brink.
This is unequivocally a game-changer – a pragmatic admission that the old "FMD-free" dream is dead, and survival demands adaptation. For the RPO and 80% of producers in extensive systems, it's economic salvation: regaining weaner markets could unlock R5–10 billion in annual value, easing the R1.5 billion export hemorrhage that's idled feedlots and forced distress sales. It's also politically savvy under the GNU, signaling Steenhuisen's DA-led Agriculture Ministry's focus on farmer realities over ideological purity, and aligns with global trends (e.g., Brazil's routine vaccination model).
Feedlots faced months-long shutdowns, weaner calf sales collapsed (stranding cow-calf operations, which dominate 80% of SA's 7.2 million-head herd), and smallholders bore the brunt, with many culling healthy stock just to survive. Industry voices like the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) and Kwanalu had lobbied for years for a nationwide vaccination strategy, warning that piecemeal efforts were "knocking the state out" and turning FMD into an existential threat to the R100 billion red meat value chain.
Yet, the elephant in the kraal is feasibility. How will a state that fumbled vaccinating even a few thousand cattle in hotspots scale to 7.2 million? Past debacles paint a grim picture: 2025 saw chronic shortages (e.g., only 644k doses imported by October), bureaucratic snarls delaying approvals, and vet service gaps leaving rural herds unchecked. OBP/ARC revival sounds noble, but underfunding and skills flight (exacerbated by load-shedding) mean production lags – private firms like Boehringer Ingelheim have offered turnkey solutions, yet integration remains glacial.
Logistics alone – cold-chain transport across vast provinces, farmer compliance, and monitoring – could overwhelm a system already strained by Eskom and Transnet woes. Renegotiating export certifications with WOAH and partners like the EU (who demand serotype-specific proof) might take years, risking further isolation. The minister announced that the oil-based vaccine from Turkey will be imported and that they can deliver a million doses per month. Saai estimates that we will need to vaccinate around 14 million head of cattle at least twice, which means that some 28 million doses will be needed, and this dare not take us 28 months!
If vaccinated animals are being treated in the same way as those vaccinated for Lumpy Skin Disease, and Back Quarter Disease, there would be very little implications for the transport or trade in livestock. If there would still be rules for quarantine after vaccination, there would still be business implications for livestock farmers.
If vaccinated animals are being treated in the same way as those vaccinated for Lumpy Skin Disease, and Back Quarter Disease, there would be very little implications for the transport or trade in livestock. If there would still be rules for quarantine after vaccination, there would still be business implications for livestock farmers.
Skeptics like industry vet Nick Serfontein (who penned an open letter slamming the "30-member task force's" inaction) rightly question timelines: if quarantining 39 farms in September took months, nationwide rollout risks chaos without ironclad private-sector buy-in and R2B+ funding. President Cyril Ramaphosa personally reached out to Nick Serfontein, chairman of the Sernick Group, shortly before Minister John Steenhuisen announced the new policy on 26 November: South Africa will now systematically vaccinate the entire national cattle herd against foot-and-mouth disease. According to Serfontein, Ramaphosa told him “to hell with the legislation – we will change it” after Serfontein pointed out that the current regulations are financially destroying stud breeders by banning them from holding auctions for 12 months.
But if executed – perhaps via subsidized mobile vet units and digital tracking – it could transform red meat into a resilient powerhouse, creating 50,000+ jobs and boosting GDP by 1–2%. For now, it's a beacon amid the brinkmanship; the real test is delivery, not declaration. Fingers crossed for the herd – and the handlers and please have patience - it will be a very long process- and very frustrating and it cost a lot of money -
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