Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a Bloomberg report: S. African ostrich farmers face ruin as bird flu halts trade. Excerpt:
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Danie Kok kicked his boots in the red dust swirling through empty wire pens at the farm he manages near Oudtshoorn, the world's ostrich-farming capital. No ostriches were to be seen.
"We've been through some bad times, but nothing comes close to this," said Mr. Kok, 55, who has worked at the Van Wykskraal farm east of Cape Town for 30 years.
Last year, more than 1,600 of the farm's birds were taken away and killed after a strain of bird flu was detected in the flock. Such outbreaks, detected on 43 farms, led the government to ban all fresh ostrich-meat exports from South Africa, which had supplied 70 percent of world demand. The ban won't be lifted until farmers meet new hygiene and registration requirements and the country has been disease-free for three months.
About 740 ostrich farms, as well as 20,000 jobs in farms, slaughterhouses, tanneries and feather-processing plants, may be at risk in an industry that dates to 1864. Feathers from the flightless birds were outranked only by gold, diamonds and wool among South African exports before World War I.
More than 43,000 ostriches have been culled in South Africa since the H5N2 virus was detected in April last year. While farmers have received 50 million rand ($6 million) in government compensation, the industry had been earning $115 million a year from meat exports.
About 70 percent of meat, valued for its beef-like texture and its low cholesterol and fat content, was exported. Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, Aldi Group, Germany's biggest discount food chain, and Edeka Group's Netto stores, were among the largest buyers, according to Johan Stumpf, managing director of Klein Karoo International, the world's biggest ostrich-products processor.
"You have the same expenses but no income," said Jack Klass, 78, the owner of Van Wykskraal, who has been farming since 1958. "It's going to ruin the business."
