WANDILE SIHLOBO
South Africa has a diverse agricultural sector, from grains, oilseeds, sugarcane, vegetables, fruits, livestock, and more. In appreciation of the sector’s diversity, I want to focus this letter on the Karoo region.
Why is this important? Consider the distribution of South Africa’s agricultural land and its land potential. Commercial agriculture typically takes place on freehold land in South Africa.
Freehold (private title deeds) farmland makes up 77.5 million hectares of South Africa’s surface area, or roughly 63%.
Of this farmland area, 44.5 million hectares (or 57%) are in the semi-arid Karoo and the Kalahari. It is here that extensive livestock production takes place (mutton, lamb, wool, mohair and cattle – largely in the Kalahari).
For this reason, rainfall, the timing of rainfall, and the quality of natural grazing are critical to the financial well-being of farmers in this vast part of South Africa.
The Karoo and Kalahari do get periods of good rainfall. Still, generally, farming in these areas must cope with regular droughts and the resulting poor grazing, leading to financial hardship for farmers.
However, this year, as in much of South Africa, has brought favourable rainfall to the Kalahari, where the Kuruman River has begun to flow after many years of drought.
In the Karoo region, we saw excessive rainfall in the Koup region (Beaufort-West, Laingsburg), in the Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg area, while the upper Karoo from Britstown to Carnarvon and Victoria-West has also been blessed with record rainfall.
Even the Western regions past Williston, to Brandvlei and Sutherland, did not miss out.
But there is something special about this year’s rainfall in the Karoo beyond the record totals that most farmers have highlighted.
It was the timing and frequency. Regular (weekly) rainfall between 10 and 25 mm in March, April, May, and June is fantastic and has a much bigger impact on grazing quality than 100mm in January or February.
The benefits of the favourable rains are clear in the sheep industry. The ewes are producing many lambs, the udders of the ewes are full, and the lambs gain weight very quickly.
The only other year in recent history with similar fantastic conditions was 1974/75, which remains the wettest on record.
On some farms, we see fountains, springs and rivers running for the first time in the lifetime of these farmers. This suggests that water tables and soil moisture have been replenished beyond previous levels.
If we experience an El Niño next year, the farmers in the Karoo should be in a good position and not be dramatically impacted for a while.
The biggest benefit brought by the rains and the subsequent improvement in vegetation is that farmers do not have to buy any feed.
Considering the current higher wool and lamb prices, we expect farm profits in the Karoo to get a well-needed boost.
The wool and lamb prices are higher, partly because of the drought and poor production in Australia, and strong demand in China. But all this is beneficial to South Africa.
What is more important is to note that all lambs produced and slaughtered in the Karoo will have access only to natural Karoo veld vegetation this year.
So, every lamb produced in 2026 should automatically have complied with the requirements for the Karoo Lamb Geographical Indication, provided the farm is in the Karoo region and registered with the Department of Agriculture.
This makes 2026 an ideal time for abattoirs in the Karoo to capitalise on the good grazing conditions and make sure their lamb is marketed, sold and labelled as Karoo Lamb.
Overall, as with some fruits and field crops, 2026 will be a good year for Karoo farmers.
*Wandile Sihlobo is an economist at Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz)
