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, nationwidefoot-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 chairpersonTheo de Jagersaid. “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 agrim 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. 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.

[paywall]

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

[/paywall]