20 October 2023
By: Vida Booysen
Up to 50mm or more has fallen since Wednesday, October 11, over large parts of the summer rainfall area, says Johan van den Berg, an independent agricultural meteorologist. Most of the rain has been recorded in the Free State, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. “Places like Vrede, Bethlehem, Reitz, Kroonstad, Senekal, Fouriesburg, Warden and Leeudoringstad have received more than 30mm since October 11, and summer grain plantings could take place there.”
Farmers report that tractors and planters are busy in the fields in the eastern Free State. In the central and western Free State, planting has also taken place in some areas, but most farmers in these parts are still waiting for follow-up rains before putting seeds into the ground.
“We got beautiful rain last week, about 30mm. The eastern Free State is in planting mode,” says Jan Scheepers, who farms between Fouriesburg and Bethlehem.
When Landbouweekblad spoke to him on Monday morning, follow-up rain was falling. “Many guys wanted to start planting today but the rain has slowed them down a bit.”
He says the rain came at the perfect time for the wheat planted in winter. “The eastern Free State looks very green after the rain.”
From the Ladybrand district, Christo Beukman reports that he had about 18mm of rain on Thursday, October 12, and on Sunday evening, October 15, another 15mm fell. “It’s still raining this morning and we are full of hope for the new season. The rain arrived just in time.”
Enough heat
In the eastern Free State, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, the period from mid-October to about mid-November is the best planting time, as it will ensure a long enough growing season with sufficient heat, says Van den Berg. “This rain is very significant because it is the optimum planting time for summer grains in the eastern production areas.”
Anton Botha farms in the Bultfontein district, located more towards the central-western part of the province. On McGrath’s Park farm, Botha has only had 8-10mm of rain. “We will start planting if we get another 15-20mm and are comfortable waiting.”
Westward, where maize plantings traditionally start only from November, less than 20mm has fallen, says Van den Berg. “Groundnut producers in the western production areas are waiting for sufficient rain to plant since groundnuts require a long growing season. Plantings must take place before mid-November.”
It is very wet in the Harrismith district, says Paul Corver, but they have already started planting maize. “We have had about 50mm so far and the fields are quite muddy.”
Varied precipitation
In contrast, it is still very dry on farms in the Brandfort district, where an intense veld fire raged two weeks ago, says Carel Nel of Helderfontein farm.
“There are three guys around me whose farms burned from corner to corner. When a dust storm started raging on Saturday afternoon, the air around us turned pitch black. I have never seen anything like it. The air changed colour because the wind picked up the ash from the ground and blew it around.”
Precipitation has varied in the district. “I had about 3mm at my place and 22mm was measured in town. Between Brandfort and Winburg there has been more rain, ranging from 30mm to 45mm.”
There are large areas on the highveld of Mpumalanga where there hasn’t been enough planting rain yet, as the rain was concentrated more over the central to southeastern parts of the country, especially on Thursday, October 12, and Friday, October 13.
Places such as Standerton, Amersfoort, Morgenzon, Delmas and Bethal have had less than 10mm so far in October, and planting cannot yet take place, says Van den Berg.
