The question remains whether the Dutch sheep sector will survive the outbreak of the deadly bluetongue virus, Agriculture Minister Piet Adema warns. Many sheep farmers in North Holland have also been affected by the virus. Nico Verduin, chairman of the Regional Board of the LTO West region and himself a sheep farmer in Andijk, is seriously concerned about the survival of Dutch sheep farming.
“Many sheep are kept by companies that have some sheep on the side,” says Verduin. “I hear from quite a few people that they have a loss (dead animals, ed.). They have real doubts about whether they will continue.” Large sheep farms are also experiencing problems due to the virus. “The specialized companies are suffering such great economic damage. The impact is so great.”
And that is not just economic, according to the sheep farmer. It is also mentally very difficult for farmers to see their animals falling over and over again. “I speak to people who dread going to check on their animals. There are keepers with ten to twenty dead animals per day. That is of course very annoying. Especially because you have no influence on it at all.”
Bluetongue is also a great danger for the new generation of sheep. The month of October is the breeding month that should provide lambs in April. If a ram is infected and receives treatment, it will be infertile for two months. “I don’t expect many lambs, but we don’t know yet.” There is a real chance that bluetongue will still be around when the lambs are allowed outside, says Verduin.
Natural areas under pressure
In addition to the consequences for the animals and the keepers themselves, nature in the Netherlands can also experience problems if there are no or few sheep left. “Sheep play an important role in nature management. Many sheep walk on areas of land where no conventional agriculture is practiced, such as dikes and heathlands. If the sheep herd does not survive, the nature reserves will deteriorate.”
For Verduin himself, the damage was, relatively speaking, not too bad. “We brought in all the animals very quickly when the virus broke out. As a result, only forty of our nine hundred sheep were infected and five died. It created a lot of work, but compared to some colleagues it is nothing.”
Courage
Agriculture Minister Adema, together with Belgium and Germany, has urged the pharmaceutical industry to quickly develop a vaccine. “A vaccine is very necessary,” Verduin sighs. The sheep farmer from Andijk is happy that the minister is putting the problem with bluetongue on the agenda. “That is very valuable, it is a encouragement for us sheep farmers. We can really use that.”