The recent rains have been widespread across South Africa, benefiting agricultural activity.
In the summer grains and oilseeds regions, the farmers have been able to plant a sizable area, and some are at the tail end of the planting. There is no panic, and we should be able to meet the expected area of 4.5 million hectares, up 1% from the 2024-25 season.
Some regions are excessively wet, such as KwaZulu-Natal and the northern Eastern Cape. Still, there are no concerns that this would negatively affect crops.
The rains have also benefited the grazing veld, which is beneficial to the livestock industry. South Africa’s fruits and vegetables are all irrigated, which means higher dam levels will help throughout the winter season.
Moreover, frequent rains also mean less irrigation in some areas than usual, which saves energy costs.
The Western Cape is a winter-rainfall area; therefore, we should not be alarmed by the low soil moisture there. They will start receiving nice rains around the end of April.
What remains worrying is the southern Eastern Cape, which hasn’t received much rain at all. We will closely monitor conditions in these regions going forward.
The Eastern Cape is a summer rainfall area, and the southern region should ideally be receiving more rain now. What remains comforting is that the dam levels are healthy and are helping with irrigation for fruit crops in these regions.
Overall, the 2025-26 agricultural season is expected to be favourable for South Africa.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter here for free. You can also follow me on X (@WandileSihlobo)
