News African swine fever
Irritation grows about German harvest ban in AVP area
The harvest bans in AVP areas in Germany have been imposed cause a lot of dissatisfaction among agricultural entrepreneurs. Giving the first exemptions has already been announced at the end of September, but the authorities do not seem to be in a hurry.
Due to African swine fever (ASF) in Germany, restrictions have been placed on the use of agricultural and forestry areas in mid-September. Discontent with the limited use of agricultural land is growing among farmers in Brandenburg. Harvesting bans have now been imposed in the districts of Oder-Spree, Spree-Neisse and Märkisch-Oderland. This relates to approximately 70.000 hectares of agricultural land.
Many applications, little time
On September 25, the state animal disease control crisis team decided to waive the ban. This is on the condition that the areas have been thoroughly examined in advance by persons designated by the government. So far, this research has not been rushed, reports the website Märkische Onlinezeitung (MOZ). In the Oder-Spree district alone, about 350 approval applications have to be processed. These applications have probably not yet been processed due to time constraints.
Anna Heyer-Stuffer, head of the German AVP crisis team, understands the discontent among farmers. "Many farmers face huge economic losses, possibly even in their livelihoods." She adds that all those responsible in Brandenburg are therefore working hard to contain ASF as quickly as possible.
Criticism of mobile fence
The mobile fencing, which should limit wild boars in their range of movement, is also receiving a lot of criticism. It is too low, the distance from the ground is too great and electricity is not conducted everywhere. The fences are said to not function properly and wild boars can just pass through them. There are even farmers who report that long stretches of the fence lie flat on the ground every morning, presumably knocked over by wild boars.
Separate core areas
Two separate core areas have now been established. The first core area is in the Spree-Neisse district near Oder-Spree and has an area of about 2 square meters. The second core area, in the Märkisch-Oderland district, has an area of approximately 150 square meters. The total area of the endangered area is approximately 45 square kilometers.
Chanti Oussoren
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