Rewards And Pitfalls Of Communal Wool Production

Volumes of formally marketed communal wool in the Eastern Cape have increased from 222 610kg in the 1997/1998 season to more than five million kilograms in 2017/2018. Mike Burgess spoke to communal wool farmer Xolisa Bomela about the ups and downs of sheep farming in the Ntseshe region of the former Transkei.

“I have between 105 and 150 sheep at any given time because I’ve decided not to increase numbers, but rather focus on improving wool quality,” says Xolisa Bomela, a founding member of the Ntseshe Wool Growers’ Association (Ntseshe WGA).

“Yes, I’d like to get bigger, but in an environment that’s conducive to it. Here you find that many of the grazing lands don’t have grass anymore.”

HIGH WOOL PRICE

According to Bomela, the decreasing quality of communal grazing is a direct result of a spike in new entrants to sheep farming on the back of an average communal wool price that increased from R6,75/ kg in 1997/1998 to R70,75/ kg in 2017/2018.

He adds that the Ntseshe WGA has seen its membership increase from four to 106 over the past four years, resulting in a boom in sheep numbers to over 12 000. As a consequence, pressure on grazing resources has increased significantly, which in turn has demanded the purchase of expensive supplementary feed, including lucerne. This has eroded profitability, a central reason why Bomela now focuses his efforts on a better-managed, smaller flock of sheep.

“One of our resolutions as communal farmers is that all producers with more than 300 sheep should be identified and given land through the land reform process,” he says. “These farmers can then move away so there’s less pressure here.”