Farming in a post-diesel world

Five words from South Africa's top sheep farmer, Richard Armstrong, caught my eye in the March issue of Stockfarm: “Farming is about forward thinking”.

- By Alwyn Viljoen

I run a small farm, and for my business to thrive I have to learn from the best. This year Richard was awarded the ‘best of the best’ among our country’s sheep farmers. He will, however, be the first to point out the sign at the entrance to his sheep and cattle farm in the Eastern Cape, which reads ‘The Armstrongs’ – a reminder that his is very much a generational family business.

A boer makes a plan

One of the key aspects of the Armstrongs’ success is that everyone knows his or her role in achieving the aims set by a leader who plans well ahead. Which brings me to the question that’s been keeping me up at night: How do I position my small farm in a world where fertiliser and diesel are prohibitively expensive?

Global energy analysts put forward a very different near-future scenario. They state that 80% of the world depends fully on diesel and fertiliser supplied by artificially sustained, heavily subsidised oil flows from the Permian basin.

Their calculations predict deindustrialisation, followed by ‘intensive subsistence horticulture replacing broadacre agriculture’. In other words, we will eventually all have to grow our own food.