Ostriches  

The South African ostrich industry was established in the 1850s as a feather industry. During the 1960s, the industry transformed from an extensive to an intensive industry and the emphasis shifted from feather production to leather production. Prior to 1986, almost no commercial ostrich farming was conducted outside of South Africa. Since then, many countries have been raising ostriches as a means of livestock diversification. Interest in ostrich farming also increased in South Africa. Many newcomers did not consider the complexity of the industry and the high capital input required. Overseas there was a lucrative market for breeding material and once this was saturated, producers had to shift from breeding material to ostrich products. This led to an increase in the number of ostriches slaughtered, with a resulting oversupply and stockpiling of ostrich skins.

South Africa is still the largest ostrich producing country in the world and contributes 48% to the total ostrich numbers in the world, followed by North and South America with 18% and Australia with 17%. After reaching a maximum of 300 000 birds slaughtered in 1997, the local slaughtering of ostriches decreased by 9,6% to 271 330 birds in 1998 and by a further 26,3% to approximately 200 000 birds in 1999. The average price of ostrich skins decreased by 27,7% in 1998, but recovered to a large extent during 1999, with an increase of 25%.

The average price of ostrich meat was approximately R9,48/kg during 1999 and gradually decreased to approximately R7,80/kg in August 2000.

Prospects

It is expected that, during 2000, the slaughtering of ostriches will increase by approximately 10% and the price of ostrich skins will increase further.

Milk

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