This emerged during a panel discussion at the joint Western Cape annual general meetings of the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) and National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA) at Nampo Cape in Bredasdorp, Western Cape.
Deli-Co Meat Wholealers CEO Hendri Truter stressed that strong production skills alone did not guarantee a market.
“South African farmers can farm, but we have to realise we have to produce something that the client is looking for.”
Drawing on the family business’s experience of producing and marketing meat, Truter said moving closer to consumers had highlighted the importance of understanding their changing expectations.
Increasingly, customers want to know where their food comes from, whether it is safe and whether its origin can be verified through the value chain.
For Truter, this ultimately comes down to trust. Producers and processors have reputations to protect, while standards set further along the value chain increasingly filter back to farm level.
“If you want to market your product in the future, you’re going to have to comply with the standards,” he cautioned.
He urged producers to move closer to their processors and markets, arguing that better communication and a clearer understanding of requirements would allow the value chain to move forward more quickly.
Traceability increasingly important
RPO national vice-chairperson Angus Williamson provided a practical example of how changing market requirements were affecting livestock producers.
South Africa has growing red meat export opportunities in markets such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but importing countries determine the conditions that suppliers need to meet.
“If those are the rules of the game, that’s what we’ve got to change to,” he said.
Traceability is becoming particularly important. Williamson noted that South Africa lagged behind some other African countries in livestock traceability, while the wool industry had already demonstrated how such systems could work successfully.
“People want to know where their product comes from, and we’ve got to take responsibility for our products.”
Williamson also cautioned producers against viewing traceability simply as a means of earning a price premium.
“You don’t have to go the Rolls-Royce option,” he said, adding that a basic tagging system could be sufficient. The greater risk is that certain buyers could increasingly exclude animals that are not part of a traceability system.
Sustainability demands will grow
NWGA general manager Dan Kriek broadened the discussion beyond traceability, pointing to growing expectations that agricultural industries should be able to demonstrate how their products were produced.
Consumers increasingly want assurances not only about the origin and quality of a product, but also about animal welfare, environmental stewardship and the treatment of people involved in production.
These expectations are unlikely to disappear and could become more demanding, increasing the importance of credible certification and the ability to substantiate sustainability claims.
Kriek beliefs the wool industry is well positioned in this regard, but stressed that sustainable practices ultimately needed to extend across the wider livestock sector.
The challenge is therefore not simply to produce a high-quality product, but also to be able to demonstrate that production practices meet the expectations of increasingly discerning markets.
Biosecurity a shared responsibility
Biosecurity is another area where practices on individual farms could have consequences for the wider livestock industry.
Williamson said lessons from the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak had reinforced the need for biosecurity to form part of everyday farm management rather than receiving attention only during a crisis.
This includes isolating newly introduced livestock, ensuring employees understand the necessary protocols, and remaining alert to animal-health threats beyond those dominating the headlines.
The implications extend beyond the affected farm. Importing countries require assurances about the health status and origin of livestock products, and animal-disease problems could affect the ability of an entire industry to supply particular markets.
Truter, for his part, warned that the value chain was only as strong as its weakest link, underlining the importance of broad participation in good production and biosecurity practices.
Cooperation on shared livestock challenges
Kriek outlined how the NWGA and RPO were already working together, along with other industry role players, on challenges affecting both wool and red meat producers.
Rather than duplicating work, the organisations could draw on their respective areas of expertise, with one taking the lead on a particular issue while the other provided support.
Cooperation also extends to issues such as predation, where industry bodies are working together on research and information gathering.
Kriek pointed specifically to preparations for Rift Valley fever, warning against complacency simply because the last major outbreak occurred many years ago.
He referred to the serious consequences of the 2009 to 2011 outbreak and said the industry had already started preparing for another possible outbreak following warning signs last year.
A key concern is whether sufficient vaccines could be produced and made available before it is needed.
For Kriek, another outbreak is not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’, making advance preparation critical.
Industry needs collective expertise
Kriek argued that the same principle applied more broadly to the increasingly complex challenges confronting farmers.
South Africa already has a considerable pool of expertise within organised agriculture, extending from commodity organisations and provincial structures to national bodies.
These structures are able to deal with issues beyond day-to-day farming, including legislation, regulation, animal health and matters affecting entire value chains.
Kriek was critical of the tendency for complex agricultural debates to migrate to WhatsApp groups and social media, where context and nuance could easily be lost.
Organised agriculture, by contrast, could take challenges identified at grassroots level and channel them through structures with the expertise and influence to engage government and other decision-makers.
The panel’s broader message was that producing a good product remained fundamental, but was no longer enough on its own.
Wool and red meat producers increasingly need to understand what their markets require, demonstrate how their products are produced, and work with processors and organised agriculture to address challenges that could not be solved at individual farm level.
Closer cooperation across the value chain would ultimately be critical to protecting the reputation and competitiveness of South African wool and red meat.
