FAST FACTS
• Drought and predation have made sheep production extremely difficult for Karoo farmer PF Theron and his father, Wilhelm.
• As a result, they have diversified into vegetable seed production, lowering their risk and improving farm income.
• The sheep also graze plant residue at the end of the production season.
Dwars-in-die-Weg, near Matjiesfontein in the Karoo, has suffered five consecutive years of drought, receiving less than 60mm of its 170mm annual average rain over the past three years.
Climatic conditions appear to have normalised this year, but PF Theron, who joined his father, Wilhelm, on the family farm at the start of the drought, estimates that it can take up to 10 years for Karoo vegetation to recover its full carrying capacity.
“The problem is that you can’t accelerate veld recovery by sowing seed, because the ecosystem is highly sensitive and the vegetation extremely diverse,” he explains.
With climate change expected to result in more extreme conditions, the chances are high that the region could suffer another drought before the veld has fully recovered. To alleviate the impact of the sheep on the veld, Theron significantly downscaled production during the drought, ending up with a mere 500 ewes on the 9 000ha farm. This would have been financially disastrous had Wilhelm not diversified into vegetable seed production a little more than 10 years ago, a move made possible by the farm’s good-quality borehole water.
この記事は Farmer's Weekly の October 16, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Farmer's Weekly の October 16, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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