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In the news section this week, Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at the Department of Agriculture’s initiative to vaccinate 40 000 animals in KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) disease management area against foot and mouth disease (FMD) which has officially kicked off. Ryan explains that this initiative follows a spike in FMD cases in KZN in January.

FMD was first reported in the province in May 2021 and according to the department, the spread of FMD in the province has warranted vaccination to reduce viral loads and hopefully prevent the further spread of the disease. Only as many animals will be vaccinated as needed to stop the spread of FMD.

Adding to this, Dr Faffa Malan from the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVASA) says that Limpopo is the most important province in South Africa in terms of animal biosecurity. He says that thus Limpopo also needs to be the best prepared province in this regard.

Limpopo borders Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, as well as North West, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is also next to the Kruger National Park – where many South African livestock diseases originate. According to Malan and other red meat roleplayers, FMD is a serious concern in this province and there are apparent issues with government officials not being able to officially contain or transport animals infected with FMD.

In another news story, farmers have been called upon to join the fight against the invasive alien plant species – pigweed. Ryan adds that pigweed is reportedly making big inroads into South African croplands which is a serious concern for crop farmers.

Pigweed is also difficult to manage and over time it could make it impossible to farm certain crops such as maize. According to the US Department of Agriculture, pigweed could cause up to 91% crop losses in maize and 71% crop losses in soybean.

Farmer’s Weekly also takes a look at global economic growth for 2022 amidst the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. Ryan says that according to a recent economic outlook report, global economic growth is set to remain strong at 4% in 2022. This is despite the conflict in Eastern Europe.

However, the divergence between developed and developing nations, in terms of GDP growth, is likely to become more apparent, says Ryan.

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