Following snowy and extremely cold weather in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and other regions, there has been a rising demand for the government to take proactive measures to address the effects of climate change. The agricultural sector, in particular, is feeling the strain as extreme weather patterns continue to disrupt vital operations.
Over the past weekend places like Vryheid, Newcastle, Howick, and Harrismith were affected by heavy snow with farmers having little access to their crops and livestock.
Impact of snow on farms
Farm manager Phikolomzi Dlamini of Sweet Basil in KZN shared his experience managing the impact on their farm.
He noted that snow began falling on Friday evening, 20 September, and fortunately, no livestock was lost. However, the extreme weather conditions led to some damage.
“It has caused some damage, trees falling and lost power because of that till now. It also affected cell phone reception. For now, the cattle are being fed with bales, although they have begun grazing on patches of cleared land as the snow melts,” Dlamini said.
Agbiz senior agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo said harsh weather conditions are not ideal for the farming community.
“In essence, as best as one can tell, at this point, our focus in agriculture should be on understanding the impact of snowfall on livestock.
“Fortunately for summer crop farmers, the snowfall is when we are out of season. The summer grains and oilseed planting season only starts in mid-October in the country’s eastern regions and begins in mid-November in the western areas,” he said.
Sihlobo said the type of support farmers will need will be clearer once the scale of the challenge is better understood.
“The communal areas, where livestock is generally not in good health in some regions in winter because of reduced feed and dry grazing veld, are a significant concern,” he said.
The recent snowfall across the Free State has had varying impacts on agriculture, with some farmers benefitting while others face difficulties. Sunflower, watermelon, and livestock farmer in Bloemfontein, Zabion de Wee, shared his experience.
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“On our farm, things are looking really good. We’ve already received around 55mm of rain, so we can’t complain. It’s very favourable for those of us working the fields.”
However, the cold has hit some farmers hard, particularly sheep farmers who recently sheared their flocks.
“It’s mainly the farmers with sheep that have already been sheared who were negatively affected by the cold,” De Wee pointed out.
A livestock farmer from Vrede in the Free State, Wessels Wessels, said he experienced the cold with rain and very little snow.
“It was very very cold with power problems but Eskom worked the whole weekend to fix it. The livestock lost a lot of weight with the cold as it was wet, cold and windy and the shock of the weather as some were just on the field.
“I think with this weekend weather, the good is going to come from the bad, as the green grass will be here in a week or two, that is going to save us a lot of money,” he said.
‘Global warming is upon us’
The president of the National African Farmers Union (Nafu) in Mpumalanga, Jabu Mahlangu, said the province experienced very cold temperatures making it difficult for farmers to do anything.
“The winter season has been very dry and lately accompanied by strong and damaging winds. Farmers experienced lots of veld fires and suffered huge losses of grazing fields, burning to death of animals, and destruction of crops and some instances residential and farming properties, storehouses and farm equipment.
“The effect of global warming is upon us and the weather patterns are becoming difficult to predict. Most
farmers are cut off, farm roads [are] inaccessible [and] there is a serious need for government to intervene,” he said.
Mahlangu emphasised that more awareness and action from the government is needed.
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