Rising farming costs put significant pressure on South African farmers, affecting their day-to-day farming operations.
Farmers have cited their struggles with different operational costs, including electricity, high wages, fertiliser costs, and having to delay certain activities due to financial pressure on the farm.
Skyrocketing prices put major pressure on farmers who use machinery such as tractors, irrigation systems, and generators that require diesel, petrol, and electricity to operate.
Rising costs push farmers to the limit
Liewellyn Louw, a chicken farmer from the Free State, explained that electricity and fuel costs, and how operational costs continuously rise, affect his farm.
“The rising fuel and electricity costs are having a real impact on my poultry farm. Electricity isn’t something I can cut back on; it’s essential for heating, ventilation, lighting, and keeping my birds healthy.
“Every increase in the electricity tariff pushes my production costs higher. Fuel is another major expense because it affects the cost of transporting feed, chicks, and our finished products. The increases keep adding pressure to an already challenging operating environment,” he said.
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For a farmer like Simangele Makutu, a vegetable farmer from Bushbuckridge, rising fuel costs put the most pressure on her farm.
“As a vegetable farmer, I need to transport fresh produce quickly, or it will spoil. I travel long distances from the farm to markets in Bushbuckridge, Hazyview and Mbombela. When fuel prices rise, I lose most of my profit on transport alone,” she said.
Makutu added that higher wages and fertiliser costs also affect her farm.
“Higher wages and fertiliser costs are forcing me to produce less. Fertiliser prices have doubled, so I am forced to buy less fertiliser, which lowers my harvest. For example, where I used to harvest 100 bags of spinach, I now harvest 60 to 70 bags because I cannot afford enough fertiliser.
“I want to hire more youth from my community, but the minimum wage increase means I can only afford two workers instead of four,’’ she said.
Meanwhile, Nqobile Khumalo, a chicken farmer from the Northern Cape, highlighted how she survives with the high cost of living.
“Our profit has dropped; we are doing business to survive. Since there is a scarcity of jobs, we had to cut two of our employees, which is painful because we can’t pay them,” she said.
How the government could help farmers
Jabu Mahlangu, National African Farmers Union (Nafu) president in Mpumalanga, said that while South Africa is not immune from the global challenges, there needs to be a more reactive approach from government.
Mahlangu said tangible plans are needed to protect the farmers in the country. He noted that all the commodities are battling to keep their doors open, with some farmers forced to reduce workers because of inability to pay their wages.
“A farmer starts the day before sunrise, but the cost of diesel, fertiliser and transport is already waiting at the gate.
“Government should introduce a time-limited and fiscally responsible reduction in the general fuel levy when prices surge, while providing targeted transport and agricultural input relief to low-income households, small-scale farmers and food distributors,” he said.
With another fuel hike on the cards for October, Mahlangu lamented that South Africa has previously used temporary fuel-levy reductions to cushion households and limit inflationary and growth pressures.
“This is the moment for practical action, not another declaration. Protecting farmers and food systems will also protect households from inflation, high interest rates and greater hardship,” he said.
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