For many farmers, the planting season has brought more stress than joy because of the lack of rain, power cuts and escalated operational costs that have made farming more difficult than before.
South Africa’s popular commodities such as grain, maize, and soybean are all set for planting season and farmers have made the necessary arrangements, but for some planting season has been a nightmare.
Please let it rain
North West-based grain farmer Nkosana Mtimkulu farms on 235 hectares. He explained to Food For Mzansi that in winter he planted fewer crops that needed irrigation, but summer is the season he capitalises on.
“I plant more under irrigation. It has been a good winter season. The only issue I have is load shedding which is making it difficult to operate at farm level.
“From my side, I am expecting a decent winter crop barley and wheat harvest. But now the rain is late in our region so preparing the land for summer is delayed as the fields are still too dry or tough to prepare. I hope we get some good rain soon,” he said.
Mtimkulu urged fellow farmers to pray for rain because their financial well-being depended on it.
According to Mtimkulu, he prepared his soil by keeping his seedbed clean before planting. Currently, he is making use of a tripper so that it can easily penetrate dry soil. This technique, he explained, makes it easy for rainwater to penetrate the soul.
A barrage of issues
“Load shedding affects the amount of water to apply to the crops. Late rain for summer crop preparation and planting has been a challenge, also the diesel price is becoming ridiculously expensive,” he expressed.
Nonetheless, he advises farmers to build relationships with agronomists for advisory support and consider crops that are slightly more drought-resistant for the 2023/2024 summer season
Meanwhile, Free State maize and sunflower farmer, Happy Letsitsa farms on a 650-hectare farm in Welkom. He is one of the many farmers who have not received much rain, but he is currently preparing the soil.
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Alternatives sought
“We are currently preparing the lands by means of dicing and ripping some lands. We have not started planting as yet, but as soon as it rains, we’ll start.
“I will use Rolstaaf machinery, planters and chemicals to work my land. We should rip our land accordingly because there might be a shortage of rain this season, so to keep the moisture, one should rip,” he said.
For him, El Niño has become a major challenge, which has led to the less rainfall season, and on top of that, rising diesel costs have become another burden for him.
“This season, we are paying almost R28 a litre for fertiliser and chemicals costs have also been very high. It has been a very difficult season,” he said.
During this time of the year, he believes that farmers should start preparing their land in time to avoid the rush and also buy diesel in bulk as the price might go up again, and order their seeds in time to get good quality.
“We should not substitute products like fertiliser since the quality may differ. My advice to fellow farmers is that should also do their soil samples in time so that they can buy the correct fertiliser. If soil corrections are needed like putting lime in the soil, now is the time,” he said.
Late rain means a late harvest
North West chia seeds and sunflower farmer Kelebohile Matsose said so far planting season hasn’t been pleasant. She’s worried that her harvesting will start later and that her market prices will be affected.
“This season is bad because we haven’t started planting due to the lack of rain. Right now, everything is standing still.
“Last year this time, we had planted everything and it was ready. But this year hasn’t been good at all. I don’t see any good promises for the harvest season,” she said.
Matsose said planting on time is critical because it determines the whole value chain of a farmer, so the lack of rain has really impacted her operation and possible profit margins.
“When you plant earlier, you harvest earlier, and the prices are good. But it’s almost the end of October and we’ve had no rain so it’s a huge challenge,” she said.
Reduced profits are a reality
Another challenge Matsose has had to navigate is rising diesel prices. “Paying close to R26 for a litre of diesel has led to an increase in our production costs – many of these were not even budgeted for – which has led to reduced profits.
“Last year when I sold sunflowers, I made a profit of about R 8 700 to R 9 000 but now I am looking at R 7 500 to R8 000. We will have to see how it all goes until the harvesting period,” she said.
Matsose said despite the difficulties she’s facing, she remains confident about this season.
“For us crop farmers, planting season is very important and proper machinery is also important. If you’ve planted on time, you are able to harvest on time which is critical for any farmer,” she added.
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