Face To Face With The Drought In The Free State

The realities of the drought being experienced by farmers in Bultfontein in the Free State mirror those of farmers in many other parts of the country. Sabrina Dean explores the ripple effect of the disaster and its socio-economic consequences in small towns and communities.

- Sabrina Dean

By mid-December, the optimal planting window for maize in Bultfontein in the Free State was coming to a close. However, the farmers here weren’t readying their soils for planting. Instead, they had gathered in a shed, waiting to receive their share of R3 million worth of sunflower seed sourced by the Bultfontein Awareness Committee (BAC) and donated by seed company Pioneer.

“Where in your life have you seen so many farmers standing around doing nothing at this time of year?” one voice among the small crowd asked.

The rain might not have arrived in time for these farmers to plant maize, but there was still some time left in the season to get a sunflower crop in the ground.

YEARS OF STRUGGLE

Some of the farmers say they have experienced seven consecutive ‘abnormal’ grain production years. Even in years when they received enough rain to manage good production, low prices meant they could not service carry-over debt. Several have had to put their farms on the market.

Coenie Fourie, one of the driving forces behind the BAC, and his sons, Stefan and Willie, are also under severe strain and in desperate need of a good season. Fourie has a shed full of groundnut seed that he could not plant this season due to drought.

But, he says, the pile of sunflower seed donated by Pioneer represents hope for farmers who would otherwise not have had any chance of putting a crop in the ground this season. Because of their inability to repay production losses still owed on what proved to be poor or failed crops, many of these farmers no longer qualify for production financing.

Otto Conradie, one of the farmers who received a share of the BAC sunflower seed, says his mixed farming operation has not experienced a normal production year in six years. On his 514ha farm, Driedorings, he points to a flock of 40 ewes and lambs, all that remain of the 400 sheep he had some years ago.