Crop farmers with crops in the ground that are in a pinch due to drought conditions and the lack of rain should talk to their bankers sooner rather than later.
The weather conditions in the summer rainfall area are becoming a worrying situation, especially in the eastern parts where there haven’t been any follow-up rains after the plantings and where replanting is required in places, says Dawie Maree, FNB Agriculture’s head of information and marketing.
“The best advice I always try to give farmers is if a problem is expected with cash flow, speak to your bank’s relationship manager sooner rather than later, because then plans can still be made. I think we are still in a situation where plans can be made to help the farmers. Remember, before the past production season there were three reasonably good seasons.”
He says when it comes to aid packages, a one-size-fits-all approach cannot be followed. Each client’s situation will have to be assessed on an individual basis to see what assistance can possibly be offered. “The last thing the bank would want is to have to sell someone’s farm. We would want to keep everyone on the farm for as long as possible, but then cooperation with the farmer is essential.
“We are still early in the season and the weather outlook looks better going forward, although we are currently experiencing a heat wave in many places. We are keeping our fingers crossed for rain.”
Brendan Jacobs, Standard Bank’s head of agricultural affairs, says while the full impact of the current drought and the extreme heat has yet to be determined, there are potential problems, especially in areas where the previous season’s drought also had a significant impact on crops.
“Because agriculture is cyclical in nature, we are focused on working closely with our clients during these times. The fact that farmers’ circumstances vary makes it important for them to constantly speak to their bankers and agricultural specialists to ensure financial planning and solutions can be considered in the given circumstances.”
Worrying conditions
Bennie van Zyl, TLU SA general manager, says agriculture is not in a good situation at the moment, and depending on what is being farmed and in which environment, the drought conditions are currently seriously pinching. “The heat units without rain in most parts are not good.
“It’s not just about crops that are suffering – food for the animals is also a big problem. In many parts, veld fires have destroyed pastures and other farmers, who now also have no more feed, have gone to help out. Most of the crop farmers have livestock that graze on crop residues and the new growth, but it is not there yet. The farmers are bleeding money to feed their animals and it is worrying.”
Robert Davel, executive manager of Mpumalanga Agriculture, says this is definitely one of the more difficult seasons in the past 10 years. “What I hear, generally does not sound good. Few places have had really large rain showers.
“Most of the fields have been planted and variable germination is quite common. There are fields that need to be replanted, but the time for that is probably over. Farmers in the western part of the province may consider sunflower.”
He says livestock farmers on the Highveld are largely dependent on feed residues as part of their feed flow programme. With the next rain farmers may plant feed sorghum for their livestock.
“Normally farmers are already busy with the first cut of Eragrostis for the winter, but at this stage there is no question of making feed. However, the situation could change quickly if we receive widespread penetrating rain within the next week or 10 days.”
Davel says exceptionally high temperatures on the Highveld, as well as in the Lowveld, are leading to exceptionally high levels of evaporation, which is also putting irrigation under immense pressure.
So far, there are no restrictions on the irrigation quotas.
Naudé Pienaar, Agri NW’s CEO, says the situation in the North West is also not looking good. “Some farmers will have to replant. In a whole lot of places, farmers couldn’t start planting yet, and then there are also places where young plantings are suffering a lot of damage and are scorchedto death.”
Better conditions in other areas
Jozeph du Plessis, Grain SA’s regional chairperson for the Schweizer-Reneke district, says they had good rain of between 50mm and 100mm in early November and everyone was able to get started and plant seriously.
About 66% of the soybeans and all groundnuts and cotton have been planted, but by the end of November it started to get very hot and dry, which forced the planting to a standstill. They are hoping for urgent rain for December so that they can plant more maize.
Dr. Jack Armour, Free State Agriculture’s trade manager, says a survey in the province shows the conditions vary greatly and there is particular concern about the prolonged heatwave conditions that are drying out the soil.
From several areas where it rained in sporadically earlier and where farmers have started planting, there are reports that follow-up rain is urgently needed. In the area of Zastron and Rouxville, conditions look good and most planting has been done, but follow-up rain is now needed. In other areas, such as Bultfontein and Hoopstad, up to 80% of the maize has also been planted, but good follow-up rain is needed to plant sunflowers.
Plantings were done after 100mm of rain in September in the area of Dewetsdorp, Wepener and Vanstadensrus, but due to little rain afterwards, there has already been damage to the maize.
Very little planting has been done on dryland at Dewetsdorp, and in the direction of Bloemfontein and Reddersburg it is also still very dry. The average rainfall in the north of Bloemfontein is currently higher than last year this time.
In the area of Bethlehem there were only isolated showers that varied from 2mm to 15mm, but there was recently a heavy shower of between 20mm and 32mm in the town, which was accompanied by hail.
