See PODCAST below

Speaking to OFM News, Andre Van Rensburg - Communications Chairperson at Free State Agriculture - says farmlands in the area have this past week been engulfed by close to 109mm of rain.  He adds one of the farmers in the area reported 1 200 hectares of corn was completely washed away by the rains. Van Rensburg says further reports estimate that 6000 ha of cornfields, planted during the summer planting season, have been washed away leaving the land drenched in water. Any more rain will threaten the viability of the land. He says farmlands remain too waterlogged for further planting or any cultivation to take place. Another farmer from Wesselsbron, Jakkels Le Roux, tells OFM News farmers are losing thousands of hectares a day because of the heavy rainfall. Le Roux adds that the water tables are filled to the brim and that more water will drastically affect the already unusable land.

Third time was the charm for a horse that was stranded on an island in the Vaal River, just outside Barkley West in the Northern Cape for more than four days. Amongst those leading the rescue efforts was Ryno Griesel, who says that they were able to save the stranded horse after a 3-day tireless fight against the unrelenting dangers of the river. According to Griessel the river has already flowed at 1000m3 / s with more floodgates being opened at Bloemhof, which would increase the flow to 1200m3 / s. He says it would have been fatal for the horse, because the whole island would then be underwater.

Plagues of locusts blanket parts of the Northern Cape. The Northern Cape Department of Agriculture cautions communities and tourists in the province of the upsurge of flying brown locust outbreaks in various towns. This is as a result of the recent weather conditions. According to the departmental spokesperson, Zandisile Luphahla, the hoppers have hatched and reached their flying stages. He says that the influx of swarms have crossed the Namibian border into the province invading many of the homes. New generations of the locust have already been discovered in Springbok, Askham, Blad-grond, Colesberg, and Sutherland. OFM News can report that the locust outbreaks have been spotted by travellers from earlier this week with the outbreak increasing rapidly.

AND

Rainfall across various regions of South Africa becomes a suitable catalyst for the spread of diseases among livestock. Veterinarian, Dr Faffa Malan, tells OFM News that the weather conditions are conducive to spreading diseases as most of these diseases are spread through insects. He says that vaccinating animals should be considered immediately and that farmers who were unable to vaccinate should implement alternative measures such as spraying the animals with insecticides and moving their livestock to high lying areas - away from water. Malan says farm workers, farmers and hunters should be cautious when working with infected animals as these diseases can spread to people.

OFM News/Lee Simmons