The Bitter-Sweet of Farming in South Africa | by Jacqueline Lourens

Farmers from around the globe will agree that farming is hard work and takes a lot of responsibility. It is certainly not an easy money-making venture either. 

Farmers today are businessmen and women and even entrepreneurs in their own right. They need to understand agriculture economics and farm politics as well as the art, science, and technicalities behind the operations on a farm.

Farming in South Africa can be extremely dangerous. Farm attacks in South Africa have reached its highest level in eight years. It is often said that being a farmer in South Africa is much more dangerous than being a police officer. 

Although current technology allows farmers to spend fewer hours working in the fields, life for many farmers can still be difficult. They need to overcome climatic, environmental, economic, and political factors to secure their livelihood. Abrupt seasonal weather changes, such as floods, early frost, and drought, cause problems for farmers including loss of stock and crops.

Food and agriculture is at the heart of our civilizations. As the population increases, so does the need for food and other agricultural products. Maize is South Africa’s most important crop. It is a dietary staple and source of livestock feed.

South African farmers realize that the food security of millions of people rest on their shoulders. For this reason, they face the everyday dangers and hardships associated with farming. After all, farmers farm for the love of farming.

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Jacqueline Lourens Personal Assistant Jacqueline has been with Valley Irrigation of Southern Africa since 2011. Jacqui loves being part of the marketing team where she spends most of her time tending to the needs of two sales managers in an extremely challenging and fast-paced environment. In her spare time, Jacqui cranks up the volume and listens to music of all genres. She enjoys reading horror and suspense novels and her favourite author is Stephen King. Jacqui has an immense passion for animals and nature, and enjoys camping and hiking. She believes that life doesn’t provide any guarantees… it only provides possibilities and opportunities for those who dare to make best use of it.

Irrigating to Conserve the World's Water | by Brooke Stover

We all know that the world’s water resources are being depleted. While 70 percent of the world’s surface is covered in water, only .05 percent of it is accessible freshwater that we can use (much of the remaining fresh water is frozen in icecaps or is inaccessible groundwater). Of that .05 percent of freshwater, 70 percent is used for agricultural withdrawals. (This information is illustrated in the image below.)

This means that 70 percent of the water is currently being used to feed our ever-increasing population. The global population increases by 8,000 people every hour. Without irrigation, growers would be unable to produce higher yields on fewer acres, so it is important that we invest in ways to feed the growing population without completely depleting the world’s water resources.

How can we do this? We can invest in more efficient means of irrigation practices. Yields can be increased while using less water, the water just needs to be applied more effectively. Center pivot irrigation can reach efficiencies of 98 percent, while traditional flood irrigation is only about 40-50 percent efficient.

To see how center pivot irrigation matches up to less efficient methods of irrigation, visit this Website.

At Valley_®, our goals are to improve irrigation practices throughout the world and to help feed the growing population while developing new and improved technologies that apply water more efficiently.

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Brooke Stover Global Marketing Coordinator Brooke has been with the Valley Irrigation Global Marketing department since 2011. She spends her free time taking pottery classes; though she thoroughly enjoys this, most of her stuff is a bit lopsided. Brooke also loves to read and listen to Frank Sinatra. She enjoys traveling and has been to 11 countries with the goal to make it to six more in the next six years!

In Focus: Center Pivot and Linear Irrigation

As the global population continues to grow, the demand for food and fiber will continue to increase. In order to meet the rising demand for food, more farmland will have to be irrigated. Click below to learn more about how center pivot and linear irrigation will help keep the world's growing population fed and help conserve the world's most precious resources.




This segment of In Focus will air on PBS Summer 2013.

Want to watch more videos on center pivot and linear irrigation? Visit www.ValleyIrrigation.com!