After struggling through multiple years of drought that forced them to reduce herd sizes resulting in diminished income and operations, farmers in the //Kharas region greeted the recent persistent rains with jubilation.
Commercial farmer Donnovan Losper told New Era he never experienced rain as good as in this rainy season during his entire life.
“I am involved in farming for a couple of years, and have experienced good and bad times. But rains like this, I never received on my farm,” he noted.
Losper (52) added that with the good rains of 2021/22, the grazing on his farm is now in excellent condition while the grass patches are well-established.
“The condition of my livestock is very good, and it is my hope to get good prices for them at auctions,’’ enthused the farmer. Losper said due to the previous drought, farmers lost a lot of livestock. It will thus be a challenge to bring their livestock numbers back to the levels of 2008.
“Farmers lost between 30% to 40% of their herds, in comparison to what they had in 2008. Although we really appreciate the good rains, it also came with negative effects attached,’’ he added. He explained that as a result of these good rains coming too fast, too soon, it negatively affected the proper growth of grass, but that he fixed the problem with phosphate licks.
Losper said with the rains came parasites and locusts are now breeding, while earth dams, camps and other infrastructure were destroyed to some extent.
“Be that as it may, this is, however, minor in comparison to the good results I will yield in future from these rains,” he observed with optimism.
“Another challenge now is that farmers might not be able to supply customer demand for small livestock as they will rather keep their animals back for purposes of reproducing since their herds are really depleted due to the drought,’’ he said.
Young, upcoming farmers might, as a result, struggle to purchase animals, and expectations are that they will pay high prices for young, productive livestock.
Losper also expressed hope that these good rains will continue for the rest of the rainy season, and that farmers will now gather the excess water in dams and catchment areas.
Josef Apollus, a resettlement farmer, said he last saw such massive rains and waters during 2004. He echoed Losper’s statement that the good rains received on his farm will definitely be to his advantage as a young, upcoming farmer. “Grazing conditions are good whilst the physical conditions of my animals are excellent,” he smiled. Apollus said he will not sell any of his small livestock now, especially the ewes, as he intends to expand his herd since he lost 73 small livestock due to drought.
“Although we can expect locusts to breed again when the weather conditions become hotter, I am confident that it can be tackled through proper insecticide spraying. It is our sincere hope as farmers that by the grace of the Almighty, we will be blessed with more rains like those we are experiencing now,” he added.
Information obtained from the Namibia Meteorological Service (NMC) indicate that good rains will continue to fall over the //Kharas and Hardap regions until the weekend.
“A low pressure system coming in from the Atlantic carrying moist air into the western parts of the country has now spread to other areas, resulting in good rains in most parts of the country,’’ weather reports stated. The NMC also forecast isolated thunderstorms over the two southern regions.