The rolling blackouts have, however, diminished my enthusiasm for candles somewhat, and finding that inner peace during this year’s event was difficult. I sat there fuming about Eskom, who for years ignored its crumbling infrastructure and then had the nerve to tell us that better planning from our side would see us cope better with the rollouts.
Why should I have to ‘cope’ with problems that are not of my making?
Yet looking back, that’s what we’ve been doing all year. For instance, the agricultural sector thrived despite recovering from a drought, and despite black spots, increased wages and electricity prices, to name a few. Time and again, farmers from overseas are amazed at what our farmers can do on often marginal soil, with little water and no subsidies.
My tennis coach used to say that winning a game easily teaches you nothing; it’s the games you lose and those you must fight for that make you a better player. An overview of the year’s articles shows that adversity has indeed shaped our farmers into becoming world-class. So even though there might be – literally and figuratively – dark times ahead, I’m confident we’ll cope. Why, the boost in sales of alternative energy equipment might be just the thing the industry needs to develop better and cheaper options – and that is certainly worth singing about!
On behalf of Farmer’s Weekly, I wish you all a safe and peaceful holiday season.
