Did you know that most of our milk in South Africa comes from pasture farming, and pastures are well beyond net zero? Dairy farms are basically carbon sinks. Farms take in a lot more carbon than what they produce during milk production at the farm gate.
The dairy industry’s carbon footprint becomes higher and more complicated after it leaves the farm, but Mzansi’s dairy farmers tend to practise sustainably.
Locally, farms increase the levels of carbon in their soil every year with modern farming practices and permanent pastures, which means that we are actually in quite a good position.
The South African dairy industry has many climate goals, which are informed by international best practices and mostly driven by the dairy processing industry.
Ensuring that the country’s dairy industry reaches its climate goals is a complicated long-term process, but experts say limiting exports and establishing a functional recycling industry could go far in limiting unnecessary carbon production.
Need help with biosecurity on a dairy farm?
While climate change is having a disastrous impact on farming operations around the world and in South Africa, it is the least of dairy farmers’ concerns in Mzansi. A bigger threat is the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
Here is a foot-and-mouth disease biosecurity strategy, compiled by the Milk Producers Organisation (MPO), milk producers shoud bear in mind:
- The producer is considered to be responsible for the application of a biosecurity plan on his/her own farm – contact your herd veterinarian.
- Infected farms are quarantined with consequent destruction of milk according to the submitted criteria of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) – as applied by the state veterinary team.
- Unpasteurised fresh milk is a medium in which viruses spread easily. The virus survives for 15 days at 4°C in milk. Only ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurisation is effective.
- The outbreak area is demarcated as an infected zone, buffer zone, detection zone, or free zone. These zones have already been identified by the private initiative for the benefit of the producer. Producers are requested to support and collaborate with the government officials charged with promoting biosecurity. Foot-and-mouth disease is a state-controlled disease that must be reported to a veterinarian by law.
Tips to help control outbreaks in your area:
- MPO members should put a traceability strategy in place to identify new outbreaks, determine the source of infection, and find out where the infection is spreading to. This makes it possible to prove negative status in compartments for the purposes of export markets and daily milk collection points. Pressure should be exerted to ensure interprovincial permit access for livestock from infected provinces.
- Monitor auctions and abattoirs as strategic control points to facilitate epidemiological traceability.
- Farmers’ associations should apply traffic control to strategic district routes, local auction kraals, and farm security gates.
- Disinfect milk, feed, livestock, and service vehicles before allowing access at farm security gates. Inspect for manure, mud, contamination of bedding or vehicle surface, and clothing.
- Insist on certificates from a veterinarian guaranteeing disease-free status when purchasing livestock and consult experts for an elaborate, scientifically based risk analysis for the farming region before enforcing unreasonable measures.
- Implement daily staff disinfection and access control on the farm.
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