“The West Coast and Central Karoo districts have been declared drought disaster areas and received below average rainfall again this year. Farm dams in these areas are empty and livestock producers will need feed during the summer months,” said Carl Opperman, Agri Western Cape CEO.
He added that Oudtshoorn and Uniondale may also be running into trouble very soon, since the area had very little rainfall during the winter. This resulted in limited winter growth and very little lucerne for producers to cut.
The two irrigation dams in the Klein Karoo, the Kammanassie and the Stompdrift dams, were respectively 11 percent and 13 percent full, and producers can no longer irrigate, Opperman said.
Producers in Nelspoort and Murraysburg in the Central Karoo are also in dire need of drought assistance. “These areas usually get good rain, but very little rain fell to date. Warm winds are also drying out the already limited available pastures,” said Opperman.
According to Opperman producers are also selling bales of feed for cash flow and are facing a situation where they will have none available for themselves.
*Agri Western Cape has been providing drought assistance to hundreds of livestock producers in the province since November 2015. The feed was donated by Western Cape producers from various regions. Agri Western Cape will deliver another nine loads of feed to the drought stricken Kliprand, Landplaas and Bitterfontein areas again this week.
