Western Cape wheat farmers thirst for more good rain
ALTHOUGH the Western Cape has had good rain over the past month or so, bringing relief to some farmers and filling dams, the province still needs more rain, particularly in wheat-producing areas, say experts.
Agri Western Cape chief executive Carl Opperman said the grain season was in full swing in the Western Cape.
Opperman said good rainfall had so far brought relief to many producers, but there were some areas that still needed rain critically.
He said the outlook for grain producers in the Swartland and Cape Metropole regions looked much more positive than this time last year, because of the recent rain, but they needed rain until September, so follow-up rain was critical.
“Producers planted in wet soil for the first time in three years in these areas. The Overberg region from Bredasdorp to Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape is still very dry, and some grain crops have already suffered damage. Livestock producers also need help. The grain situation doesn’t look good in the Hessequa region, where the grain battles to germinate due to very little rain to date,” said Opperman.
He said the recent snowfall was good news for orchards (citrus, deciduous) and for table grapes and wine grapes that needed the cold units to go into a rest period.
“Although dam levels are rising, the water restrictions for producers will only be lifted once the levels reach 85 percent. The drought will only be broken once our groundwater levels are back to normal, but we are far from that,” said Opperman.
Favourable
Absa agricultural economist Karabo Takadi said the weather outlook remained favourable for the Western Cape’s winter rainfall production areas, and the recent rainfall had been positive to crops grown in that area.
FNB’s agricultural economist Paul Makube said in the face of uncertainty regarding the weather outlook, the winter crop season began on a negative note, with wheat farmers in the Western Cape, the province’s largest grain crop, indicating that they would reduce their planted area by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 320 000 hectares.
“Remember, the Western Cape accounts for 63.9 percent of the total area under wheat, and is therefore very critical in the supply dynamics for the country. Other crops such as canola also saw a reduction in planted areas.
“The combination of the prolonged drought and water restrictions, as well as frost damage in some areas, caused a 15 percent drop in the 2018 wine grape harvest to 1.22 million grapes crushed, which yielded wine of 948 million litres, also down 15 percent, according to industry reports. Nonetheless, weather conditions turned positive, with good rains since the beginning of the season,” said Makube.
He added that this saw a gradual replenishment of soil moisture and dam level, which boded well for emerging and growing crops.
Feeding
Makube said the recent good rains from the cold front helped lift the overall dam levels in the Western Cape by 5.2 percentage points week-on-week to 41.6 percent full, relative to 23.3 percent last year, according to the Department of Water and Sanitation data update for the week ended July 2. The levels of dams feeding the City of Cape Town were collectively more than 50 percent full, relative to last year’s 25.1 percent.
“This is good news, but it’s still early days, as the drought is yet to be broken and control measures to limit consumption are likely to remain in place for a bit longer until the end of the rainy season, when the extent of dam replenishment is determined, ideally 85 percent full for overall regional dams,” he said. Makube added that some areas in the Western Cape such as Ceres received snowfall, with a substantial cover reported in the Matroosberg area.
“This is also welcome, as the melting snow will replenish soil moisture and increase the water flows to rivers that feed the dams. The improved water situation in the Western Cape bodes well for winter crops, fruit and other vegetables as soil moisture is replenished and pressure on irrigation is alleviated.
“In a nutshell, the gloomy picture earlier in the year has changed significantly and all indications are that we are likely to see a gradual recovery from drought in the Western Cape,” he said.
Makube said that while the agriculture output had been reduced across most commodities in the Western Cape, the recent rand weakness was supportive of exportable commodities such as fruit and wines.