Agriculture
Dairy farmer had to start slaughtering cows─── SABRINA DEAN 07:52 Mon, 12 Oct 2015
Bloemfontein - Nearly 60 dairy farmers in the Eastern Free State stand to go out of business, and possibly even lose their farms, due to a lack of a milk buyer and alleged non-payment of milk delivered since July.
This comes after dairy buyer Montic allegedly implemented the closure of its depot in Clocolan at the end of September. Montic, a subsidiary of the Sontic Group, earlier this year issued a notice to farmers saying the depot in Clocolan would be closing down at the end of September. It claimed at the time a large part of the decision to close, had to do with milk quality and certification issues.
At least one farmer has already had to start slaughtering his dairy herd so that he can at least manage to pay his children’s school fees. Graham Clayton of the farm Mensvretersberg in Excelsior says he was forced to slaughter 23 of his Holstein herd last week and says its looking like he might have to do the same with the remainder of his dairy herd next week, many of which are currently pregnant.
He says he received a payment about three weeks ago for milk delivered in July but claims the balance of the payment for milk delivered in August and September remains unpaid. He says he will also have to sell off part of his farm to survive going forward.
Another farmer in the area says he is currently losing R6000 a day and claims he is owed well over R1,5-million in outstanding payments.
OFM News is currently awaiting a response from Montic to confirm the closure, as well as provide feedback on allegations of delayed payment.
