Farmers may incur costs outside of government’s FMD vaccination strategy

Cattle in the Suikerbos area of Gauteng received crucial Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccinations as part of the government’s nationwide effort to protect the national herd. While Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has committed the government to covering the entire cost of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines for the national herd, farmers outside the government’s vaccination rollout strategy may still face significant fees. In an update on Friday, the FMD ICC clarified the practical implications of the announcement, noting that thegovernment’s current rolloutis focused solely on active outbreak areas.

“If you are in an active outbreak area but want your herd vaccinated as soon as possible, you can contact an authorised private veterinarian to vaccinate your herd. The vaccine is paid for by the government, but you will need to pay the private veterinarian’s service fee,” the FMD ICC stated. The council said that forfarmerswhose herds fall outside these current priority areas,the financial responsibility differs significantly.

the financial responsibility differs significantly. “If your herd currently falls outside these priority areas but you want to manage your risk as soon as possible through vaccination, this can be done, but you pay for the vaccine and the private veterinarian’s service fee,” the council warned. While welcoming the minister’s pledge to cover the vaccine cost, the FMD ICC reiterated a key concern: speed.

[paywall]

“We welcome this announcement by the minister, but our stance remains that speed should be the priority,” the council emphasised. They suggest the industry has the operational capacity to help if capacity constraints are slowing the government’s current strategy.

[/paywall]