SA farmers set to face a tough winter

Farmers will have to make a plan to get through winter following a summer season of little rain and extreme heatwaves.

Weather forecaster at VOX Weather Michelle Cordier said it would be a drier start to winter, with above-average temperatures forecast for South Africa.

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She said it was likely SA would enter the neutral phase in the winter months and then re-enter La Nina in spring.

“La Nina can bring above-average rainfall and cooler temperatures.

“But that doesn’t mean every La Nina brings above-average rain, [although] in the periods we saw above-average rain, we were mostly in the La Nina phase.”

Cordier said the forecast suggested below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures for the start of winter.

“To look further for the rest of winter, we will first have to wait for the El-Nino to stabilise because it also looks like we will enter the neutral phase in the winter months, which means temperatures and rainfall can be more normal and then look whether we re-enter La Nina in spring. La Nina can bring above-average rainfall and cooler temperatures,” she said.

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Agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo said excessive heat and limited rainfall across the major crop-growing regions were just some of the challenges farmers faced during the 2023-24 summer.

“Farmers in the Western Cape will likely begin to prepare the soil for the 2024-25 winter crop production season by the end of April. Other major winter crop-producing provinces, such as Free State, Limpopo and the Northern Cape, will likely start around the end of May,” he said.

Free State farmer Tewie Wessels said their worries were endless. “It was a difficult season. We have harvested about half or twothirds of our usual crops.