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Thousands of FS farmers assisted with drought relief
Free State Agriculture (FSA) has assisted 4,661 farmers at farmer's associations in the province with drought feed by means of their disaster fund, donations and Agri SA's Drought Relief Fund, since December 2015. The Western, Southern and central parts of the province were hit the hardest. Due to the effects of the El Niño, rain has fallen sporadically and affected each farmer differently.
Edenburg
New entrant farmers have also been assisted where possible. These farmers approached their local farmer’s unions for assistance, and it was communicated to FSA. This past week new entrant farmers from Oppermansgronde, Edenburg and Trompsburg were assisted by means of maize stover bales.
Feed donations, as well as purchases facilitated by FSA, have been transported over 62,951km. The amount that FSA has spent on transport up until now stands at R893,069. As part of an effort to assist each member in some way, FSA bought 9,710 bags of feed pellets for members. Some members who were not hit that hard by the drought has indicated that their feed pellets should be sent to farmers who need it more. Irrigation farmers from Luckhoff recently indicated that they have maize stover bales available at only the cost of baling. An amount of R1,772,527 has already been spent on these baling costs as well as the above-mentioned purchase of feed pellets.
A total of 9,414 bales, 20 tonnes of oats and 16,394 bags of feed or lick blocks have already been transported to our members.
Donations and assistance
We would like to express our gratitude towards the Caring Daisies, Voermol as well as donators and some of our farmers who assisted their neighbours by means of feed and/or transport of feed. Thuso Mill has also donated 28 tonnes of maize meal that was distributed to more than 1,600 individuals in need in the province. Farmers are also grateful for the 20 water tanks of 10,000 litres each that was donated by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).
A very diligent process is followed around the distribution of drought assistance. Farmers apply for assistance with their local farmer's union, and these applications are sent through to FSA’s office. The office organises the feed donations as feed and transport become available to assist the specific farmers association.
Concern over water resources
FSA is very aware that many farmers are uncertain about what the future holds with the winter ahead and grazing that could not recover after the late rain. Our efforts to assist farmers with feed, but also with humanitarian needs, are continuous. The organisation is concerned about the state of water sources in the province, especially with more towns experiencing water problems. FSA approaches the problem strategically and is investigating possible solutions. Many farmers try to assist their local towns by providing water from their boreholes to towns.
