KZN flood damage adds to pressure on milk volumes

Although dairy producers in KwaZulu-Natal have not experienced any significant damage due to the recent flooding across parts of the province, production will be severely affected by the resultant damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges, which will hamper transportation of milk and milk products.

This was according to Bertus van Heerden, chief economist at the Milk Producers’ Organisation, who told Farmer’s Weekly that KwaZulu-Natal supplied 27% of the country’s raw milk.

With regard to the current outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in various provinces, Van Heerden said that while the organisation was concerned, no cases of FMD had yet been reported on any dairy farms.

“However, consumers need to know that even if FMD was diagnosed on a dairy farm, milk is still safe to drink. Besides the fact that FMD is not a zoonosis, milk is pasteurised and therefore it is safe and should form a part of every healthy diet,” Van Heerden said.

A zoonosis was a disease transferable from animals to humans, he explained.

Alwyn Kraamwinkel, CEO of the South African Milk Processors’ Organisation, agreed that the recent excessive rainfall would result in the further decline of the industry, which had already suffered due to South Africa’s weak economy.

“In March this year, milk production had declined by

3,2% (256 million kilograms) when compared with [volumes from] March 2021 (265 million kilograms),” Kraamwinkel said.

According to Milk South Africa’s (Milk SA) latest statistics, South Africa’s dairy production had already fallen 0,71% from over 3,42 billion kilograms of unprocessed milk in 2020 to about 3,4 billion kilograms in 2021. Van Heerden said that due to the cyclical nature of dairy production, he expected milk volumes to drop during the coming winter months. “In recent years, the decline in milk volumes over the winter has not been as significant as a decade ago, but it does still play a significant role.”

A recent Milk SA report stated that usually there was a sharp increase in producer prices between June and October and a sharp decrease again between November and either April, May or June. – Susan Marais

FW ARCHIVE South Africa‘s milk producers remain under pressure due to challenges such as animal disease outbreaks.