View from the Top

Krömhoogte

(literally Crooked Heights) is the most readily identifiable point on the farm, and can be seen for miles around. Our western boundary runs along the bottom third of the mountain, though the summit is on the neighbouring farm. The whole area is approximately 1600m amsl, although the summit of Krömhoogte towers another 220m above the table land.

Brother R and some of the neighbours climbed to the top and took some photographs which I think are exceptional and give a great perspective of the layout of the farm.

The farmhouse is in amongst the trees towards the left of the picture. The large dam may be seen in the distance at the top of the photograph.

The mountain has attracted, like most high points in an area, numerous visitors over the years. It was also a lookout post for British soldiers during the Boer War at the end of the niniteenth century. I am still doing research on the part played by the farm and the town during this period and it will hopefully be the subject of a future post.

One of the visitors, not suprisingly, was the original owner of the farm - Cornelius C. Vermaak - who left his initials on the summit in 1900.

The above series of photographs, give a good idea of the general topography of the region, as well as showing that all the dams in the immediate area are full to overflowing. For at least the past 8 years, the area has had exceptionally good rains. Climate change (although I dispute totally that the cause is anthropogenic) seems to be a reality, and is certainly benefitting the area - rainfall wise.

Let the Cat out the Bag

One of the logistical problems of spending an unknown amount of time away from home on the farm is the question of what to do with my (as opposed to the farm) cat. She is a pavement special, rescued from a vet who was about to put her down, who has never really bought into the whole happy families thing! While not wild, she is stand-offish in the extreme and not really amenable to petting or playing. Still she is an interesting character. She also hates other cats. She tolerated dogs, preferrably from a distance and as long as they ignore her. I decided to take her with me, and as a precaution I asked our local vet for travel tranquilizers for her for the seven hour trip. He advised against it and recommended I use a naturopathic concoction, or " just before you travel, dunk her in a bath of warm water, and she will spend the whole trip grooming herself, and not worry about the journey". I took the former option although that was totally unsuccessful.

The night before I left didn't feed her, so she was easy to catch and put in the car. She was not impressed, although after the first 100km or so she found herself a comfortable place; and slept. Arriving at the destination she headed into the garden to relieve stress and headed up a small tree, hissing and clawing at anyone or anything that approached her. Later that night I got a towel and removed her from the tree and settled her in my bedroom with her food.

She has taken the usual feline curiosity with enclosed spaces to extremes. One of her passions is finding hidden places to sleep. One such place was between two pillows under the cover of my bed! Another was under a layer of polyfibre roof insulation, which over time became her preferred sleeping place. I took this, folded it in three, and fabricated a 'sleeping bag' by stitching the panel together with fishing line. This, and its several successors are her passion. She will actively search the house until she finds it and curls up inside.

Once she had found her 'den' in the farmhouse, she quickly settled down and was no further trouble. There were a few run-ins with James and the cats, but nothing serious and she settled into the life of a country cat.

Tot Facienda Parum Factum

"So much to do, so little done". This is the motto of Cecil John Rhodes; the founder of Rhodesia, and the benefactor of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust. It certainly applied to the farm.

While the previous owners had removed all their possessions of value, they left behind years and years worth of other accumulated junk. One entire storeroom was full of old magazines - SA Farmers' Weekly' which although of interest, needed to be disposed of. Likewise with bottles and old machinery chassis and other metallic junk.


Inside the house, major changes were needed, including the need to do a complete renovation of

the bathroom






















toilet

















and kitchen.

More importantly, there was an old gas oven (top right in the photograph) that was the only means of cooking - it had to go! Shopping was necessary to start the process. In short order we bought a deepfreeze, a new oven and a washing machine.

With the deepfreeze in the storeroom, the new oven placed temporarily in the old cupboard space and the washing machine placed in the

















outside rondavel,

we were in business. I placed a water feed and a drain into the building (there was a power point already installed). One of the greatest advances, in my opinion, in modern agriculture is the invention and development of the black plastic pipe. What would previously have required a great deal of time, a plumber and specialized equipment can now be done professionally by amateurs - and I should know!

This rondavel is an interesting bit of agricultural history. It was originally built as a cream store. It previously had an internal wall. the space between the exterior and interior walls was filled with charcoal. Water was sprinkled on the charcoal and evaporation kept the interior many degrees lower than the ambient temperature. Churns containing cream were thus able to be stored for several days without the cream going sour, before being taken to the rail siding and sent to the dairy.

The construction of the external wall is of interest. It is built of naturally occuring ironstone "spheres" which are as hard as hell, held together with cement.

Blue Tongue and Other Ovine Afflictions

The first few months on the farm were charactersised by an inordinate amount of rain - 431mm for the first four months of that year. To put this into perspective, this is a good average annual rainfall for the area. The consequence was an explosion of diseases of the sheep related to the wet conditions. "Bromme" or maggot flies soon made their appearance. The Afrikaans slang word is derived from the characteristic buzz the fly makes. It is highly distinctive in colour, being a metallic green.

Blue Tongue made its appearance as well. This latter disease is a virus spread by midges (culicoides) or "miggies". It derives the name from the characteristic cyanosis of the tongue. There is no cure - the vet advised that the affected animals should be kept hydrated and penned in the dark, until the symptoms had dissipated. All this made for a rather hectic few weeks, as the number of sheep needing treatment increased. Fortunately the number of fatalities was limited, and the crisis soon passed.

As an interesting aside, one of the effects of 'climate change' is the occurence of Blue Tongue in Europe - it was first reported in 2006. In 2007 Britain reported its first case of the disease. It has now spread as far north as southern Sweden.

Blue Tongue is not a highly visible disease; the same cannot be said of maggot fly strike! The fly is attracted to wet patches on the skin of the sheep, usually but not always in the area of the crutch of the animal. The fly lays innumerable eggs which hatch, in short order, into live larvae (maggots) that literally devour the living flesh of the sheep. Keeping a close lookout for those so infected is an integral part of the day to day managment of the flock. Treatment is usually effected by shearing the infected area, washing the area with a strong insecticide and then dusting with an antibiotic. A truly nasty parasite!

Apologies

I have been very idle, and haven't updated the blog for a long while!














An internet friend Carolyn from San Francisco gave me a much needed kick up the butt and told me to get on with it!



Thanks Carolyn

Dan, Dan the Maintenance Man

Once we were more or less up to speed on the stock management; or as up to date as is possible with sheep, repairs and maintenence became the priority. The major project in the "plan" was to subdivide the main stock handling area into smaller pens, all interleading and gated, so the flocks could be split up, for various procedures. This was accomplished rapidly, and we then moved onto windmill maintenance. For some reason, there would be a windmill breakdown at least once per week. Critical as they are, one just has to put up with their temperamental nature, and fix them as soon as they break down.

Fences and gates were also a priority, and several gates were taken down and rewelded and rewired at the house. The main irrigation system suffered a lightening strike, so that meant a huge amount of expense and frustration.

The biggest frustration came not from the farm directly, but from the local farmer who grazed cattle for a fee on the property. It was a 'grazing only' contract; no management by the farm staff was included in the fee, but this guy would frequently arrive and insist that the staff help him with whatever needed doing - dosing dipping feeding etc. Not wanting to antagonize him, he being a stalwart in the community! I let it go for a month or two. The final straw was when he was busy, in my absense, with his bulls, and the broke the main gate to the handling facility. No note, no phone-call, no offer to repair.

I let it be known in the 'community' that this was not the right thing to do, and a couple of days later he arrived with a new gate which was installed until he returned with the old one, fully repaired. Shortly thereafter, I gave him notice of termination mid month, and he moved the cattle a few days later. He even had the temerity to ask if I was going to charge him for the half-month grazing. Definitely! He paid up without a problem. Such are the joys of living in a small community.

Getting to Grips

I soon settled in, and started getting organized. One thing that I abandoned very quickly was the old "Store". For generations, the staff were able to 'buy' basic commodities ( mealie meal, sugar, yeast, cooking oil, soap washing powder etc) from stocks kept at the house. It soon became clear that it would be a nightmare keeping track, and worse - it was obvious that the staff would spend a large portion of their wages at the store during the month and then have very little left at month end. Inevitably this would result in them requiring a loan which would have to be rolled over the following month. In consultation with brother R, it was decided to pay a portion of salary at mid month so that incidentals could be purchased. We further abandoned the practise of dishing out loans. Once the staff became used to the new system it worked without further problems.

There were several labour issues that had to be dealt with, most were resolved amicably. It was made quite clear that whatever was done in the past would only be continued if it were efficient and reasonable. The staff, as was to be expected, 'tried it on' to their benefit. Farmer I had never been, people manager I have been my entire working life.

The first issue was the Gardener. Like most farms in the area, the staff members all are either closely or not so closely related. This particular man used the fact that he was related to most of the other members to do as little as possible. Since the farm took precedent over the domestic chores, very little time was spent on monitoring his output. It was quite obvious that he was doing nothing, and after about two months, I took the day off from farming, and supervised him directly. It was amazing what he achieved that day. Sadly the work output was never repeated, as he resigned the following morning.

There was a large amount of 'jockeying for position' between the two most senior men, and also between the two wives, who were employed in the house. Again, I tried to ignore most of it and was successful unless it impacted on the operations.

Still the first few months gave a clear indication how hard the staff worked, and how capable they were at the many tasks, both stock management and maintenence, involved in farming in the area.

Home Alone

It was strange to be in the big old farm house all alone. There was a lot to get done and the first thing to do was to make a list. I am an impatient perfectionist, and it is easy to find things that are not up to standard. One of my pet hates is having things that work that is half done, or things that are not fit for purpose.

Yard and Sheds from Road


The yard surrounding the sheds was in a shambles. Fifty plus years of accumulated rubbish had been allowed to accumulate, without any plan. All farmers love to keep 'stuff' in case they can find a use for it. This farm was no exception. The first task was to sort out the used farm implements from the old and obsolete and to create some order. The grass was then cut, the rubbish collected and burned and a start made on sorting through scrap, the junk being discarded; the good stuff being stored in a suitable location.

The second target of attack was the lamentable state of the farm gates. Gates that don't open properly rank up there with washing dishes, shopping and bedmaking on my irritation list. It seems that the "boer maak 'n plan" mentality was very prevalent on this property. Gate hinges were broken, gates had rusted through and been tied together with wire, and worst of all gates had not been hung properly and had to be partially lifted to get them over the rough ground when opening. The staff were tasked with fixing gates as an ongoing priority. Slowly but surely we renovated each broken gate, and rehung those that needed it.

A Typical Farm Gate

One amusing incident occurred. One Monday, a staff member had not returned from his weekend and was absent without permission. He returned the following morning very hungover and was barely staying awake during the daily rounds. We arrived at one gateway where the gate had been removed for repairs. I stopped the vehicle and I gave him the keys and told him to unlock and open the gate. The rest of the staff caught on immediately, and mocked him about being "babbelas" and blind when he protested that there was no gate to open. It kept them amused for the rest of the morning. Once the gates were done, a start was made on fixing fences where strands were broken and droppers were replaced. It took no more that two weeks to get the gates and fences up to standard.

Once the gates and fences were up to standard, we set about subdividing the stone 'kraal' attached to the shed. it is here that all the sorting dosing and handling of sheep, lambs, cattle and calves is carried out. Without smaller pens to hold those sorted, the exercise is futile. This was soon completed and we were in business.

Learning The Ropes

The OVK Co-Op

Steynsburg from the R56

The Main Street

The first few days were dull and involved getting used to the many trivial things that go with farming; the most difficult was trying to learn the names of the farm camps, and trying to remember which key went with which gate lock. Most of the camps are accessed from a public road, so all the access gates are locked to minimize theft of livestock. We spent some time learning our way around town; not so difficult as it is really small. Still we had to find places such as the Co-op (OVK is the only one represented in Steynsburg). They carry an amazing amount of stock, and employ really nice and helpful staff; the small supermarket; the Post Office, the Pharmacy etc.

Getting used to the idiosyncracies of farm life was not a problem for brother R as he had done it for most of his adult life. For me it was different. The sameness of the daily routine and the long-term nature of the operations were the most difficult for me to deal with. We had the usual problems; windmills needing repairs, fences that required fixing, and sheep that required doctoring. All in all it was not unpleasant, and quite edifying. Time went quickly, and it was soon time to return to Johannesburg so that brother R could return to Zimbabwe and get on with the long drawn out process of emigrating.

He left for Zim from Johannesburg, on 21 March 2004 and I collected the cat and returned to the farm the same afternoon.

On Our Own

So! We were irrevocably committed, and for better or worse, we were now sheep farmers. The first few days were trying learning the roads, learning the idiosyncrasies of windmills, pumps and more specifically the animals. There is a saying that when two sheep stand together, they are discussing the newest way to commit suicide!! For an animal that endures the very harsh climate in the Karoo, they are remarkably susceptible to disease.

Round worms, tapeworm, wireworm, hook worm, nasalworm, pulpy kidney, bluetongue, pasteurella..............., and the ecto-parasites, bot flies, mosquitoes, ticks. They die from urea poisoning, eating green lucerne, getting stuck in the mud and lying down badly (sleg gele). Not easy at any time of the year.

We had a remarkable amount of support from the neighbours and cousins and managed to muddle through without too many incidents. We had a lightening strike on the main irrigation boreholes, and had to replace about 3 submersibe pumps, as well as motor control switches etc. The upside was that we had remarkable rains the first season - second highest recorded rainfall in 100 years.

Brother R had to go back to Zim after 3 weeks, as his visa had expired, and he needed to finalize arrangements for emigrating. We left to return to Johannesburg on the Friday, and he left for Zim the following day.

Shear Madness

Shearing usually happens once per year. We have settled on a shearing time of 1st week in October as it is usually a certainty that the last of the winter cold snaps will have passed. This year, we retained a number of ewe lambs to increase the size of the flock, and, since they were not shorn in October, we decided it was now time. We usually use BKB as our shearing service, but since they are becoming very expensive, and their service is starting to slip, we employed a gang of independent shearers.

Shearing has to be the best local example of union monopoly tactics. You have to transport them to the farm, provide accommodation, provide all their food, tea coffee tobacco etc, sweep up after them, then pay them and transport them back home. Still they are quick and this gang doesn't inflict too many serious injuries on the sheep.

Wool is classified by length and fineness, among other parameters so the classing is the most important aspect of the entire shearing. Most of the sheep were lambs being shorn for the first time. A large percentage was AA length, so hopefully we will get a good price when we sell in November.

Handover/Takeover

The Zim contingent left to return to Zim in mid January. Brother R would be returing to the farm on 26 February so we could take ownership of the farm on 1 March. The date was chosen as it is the first day of the tax year in SA.

While waiting for the day to arrive, I got busy buying essentials for the farm - DSTV, electric blankets, rudimentary amounts of house hold goods etc. I/someone would be on the farm, in an empty farmhouse from 1 March until the date of arrival of the family from Zimbabwe. As it turned out, it was to be many months before they arrived.

Brother R came down by bakkie from Zimbabwe on 26 Feb 2004. We loaded up the bakkie with all the farm purchases and set out. It was an uneventful trip; we left early and arrived around
lunchtime.

We spent the night at Cousin S and left the next morning to meet up with Owner D at about 9am the following morning. He had already left the farm and was travelling up from East London to hand over. We spent an interesting day counting sheep, cattle and farm implements and doing all those other things agreed in the contract of sale. The day was soon over and we were the proud occupants of the Farm. D spent his last night at the house, while we travelled back to S, just over the hill and advised that the deed was done.

We moved into the house the following day. It was like being back in university digs - only the most basic of furniture and equipment. Farming then started in earnest. One of the unexpected freebies of the purchase was James (the border collie cross) who could not go with D. James lives for two things, food and bakkie rides.

Christmas Shopping Farm Style

One of the things we inherited from the previous owner D was a flock of 102 ram lambs that had been kept for classing into breeding rams or to be sold for mutton. We took a decision early on that it was too time consuming, and wasteful of grazing to hold back so many ram lambs to breed our own production rams. We therefore decided to begin a programme of purchasing pedigree rams instead of using our own rams for breeding. The idea was to replace the ram flock on an as an when basis. The first two stud rams purchased were Big Joe and Bulldozer. They came from the Sneeuberg Dohne Merinos Stud from Graaff-Reneit. They cost a great deal of money, but the benefit of quality, time saving and the fact we did not have to keep back so many ram lambs for classing made it worthwhile.

Over time we have bought rams from other studs, replacing those that were old, and those that had died for whatever reason. About half of our ram flock now comprises pedigree rams. Our most recent purchases came from a new stud near Molteno. We went there with the specific idea of "window shopping", but took the 4 x 4 and trailer in case. Since the rams were of excellent quality, and the prices were right we bought 5!

Learning the Ropes

Brother R and SiL G flew down on schedule, and we left straight for the farm from Johannesburg Airport. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at Cousin S about 9pm. This was to be G's first visit to the farm; she had not accompanied R on the initial visi the previous September.

As part of the sale agreement, we had agreed that we would be able to spend time with owner D on the farm and be shown the Farm operations in detail. As luck would have it our visit coincided with the annual shearing operation. This was important as it was something completely foreign to R. It certainly was an interesting couple of days, with the almost ritualistic procedures involved.

We spent most of the days thereafter treavelling around the farm, being indoctrinated on the various do's and don't of the operation. I spent a great deal of time looking at what we had bought, and making sure that we were getting what we were paying for. All, thankfully seemed in order and in pretty fair condition.

We also were initiated into one of the facts of Karoo life - fire fighting! It seems that Karoo vegetation is totally willing to burst into flames at the slightest provocation. It seems that even if it is raining, the grass will burn at a moments notice. It doesn't help that the hilly terrain attracts lightening; seemingly there is as much lightening there as there is on the Reef - an area with one of the highest incidents of lightening in the world.

We were having dinner with Cousins A&P when we got a call to say there was a fire on Cousin S's farm. We abandoned dinner and raced back. It was raining steadily, but that did not seem to stem the fire at all. It was put out with the asistance of the neighbouring farmers (by law every two farms have to have a motorised "fire engine").
The fire eventually ended up on the adjoining portion of our farm before it was finally out. but we did meet most of the neighbours.

The rest of the visit was uneventful and we left for Johannesburg much wiser regarding the lay of the land - so to speak. Brother R and Sil G flew back to Zimbabwe to to start the long emigration process and start packing up their former lives.

Rain at Last

It has been a trying time for farmers in the immediate area and the Easern Cape as a whole. The rainfall pattern has been sporadic and saw September with no rain and October with 16.5mm. November started off equally poorly, with a limited amount of patchy rainfall during the first two weeks. Things have now changed, with significant amounts of rainfall in the last 10 days 25mm then 41mm - bringing the November total to 91mm. December started well 34mm so far. The dams are filling nicely, the grass is greening up and we no longer have to provide supplementary feed for the livestock. Notwithstanding the miserable spring weather, the 10 year moving average rainfall of 542mm is the highest it has ever been in the 100 year history of rainfall records available. Assuming that December meets expectations, the average could well reach 550mm. This would mean that the average rainfall has improved by over 100mm in the last 10 years

We have been fortunate to escape any veld fires so far. The are serious hazards, as they are usually the result of lightening strikes, are unpredictable and difficult to control and put out. The main reason being is that fires are a natural part of the ecological cycle, and the vegetation has evolved to incorporate fire as part of its lifecycle. Controlled burning of the veld is therefore a part of good veld management, although it is usually done with fear and trepidation by most farmers as the weather conditions, specifically wind, are very unpredictable in the area.

There have been two fires on neighbouring farms; luckily they were put out quickly with minor damage.

Computer Problems

Having major difficulties with my computer!!!

Will be back on line - sometime?

The Great Karoo

Steynsburg lies to the far east of the eco-region known as the Great Karoo. The region is some 400 000 square kilometres in extent. It is classified as semi desert and the name derives from the Khoisan word of uncertain meaning. During its geological life, it has been glaciated, and later it had great inland deltas, lake and swamps. At times during its prehistory it was ravaged by massive volcanic activity. Reptiles and amphibians populated the area, in large numbers. Today their remains have made the region a paeleontological treasure trove.

The vast grassy plains were identified as being excellent sheep grazing country in the early 1800's and today it is the major sheep region of the country.

Anything Worse than a Lawyer

Soon after New Year, I flew to East London and met up with owner D. We went through many details of the operations, and technical issues regarding infrastructure, and then signed the final agreement.

I had an appointment with my attorneys set for 10am the following day. Guess what, the conveying attorney did not pitch, and his PA had no record of the appointment. I had met previously with O, my attorney and chairmen of the firm to finalise the incorporation of the farm and operating company into the family trust, and he had advised at the time that partner B would do the transfer.

B's PA did her best, but it was all most unsatisfactory. With the new FICA regulations everything would take about twice as long. B eventually pitched, but the damage was done; I really think he was incompetent. It later transpired that that chairman O and the three senior partners had resigned from the firm, to start their own. The junior partners and the hangers on seemingly would not be able to hold the 100 year old firm together, and it was merging with another. Guarantees were lodged with the attorneys, and the sale became irrevocable.

I phoned brother R and gave him the green light to proceed full speed ahead with emigration procedures. R and SiL G were scheduled to fly down to Johannesburg the following week. As per the agreement, we were to spend a full week on the farm learning the details of the operation prior to the handover. Conveniently it was the week that the farm sheep were to be sheared - a very important operation to be learned. SiL G had not seen the farm and was flying blind, having only seen photographs. Happily she was very happy with the house and garden. There would be a lot to do to get the place to meet our requirements, but it was a great start.

There was a lot to take in: windmills, transformers, pipelines, pumps, tractors and hundreds of other details. And a lot of keys!

....But No Rain

Dry Dry Dry

The rains are late this year. Although the total rainfall year to date matches the entire rainfall of last year, those rains started early, and ended in May. The high rainfall early in the year means that the grass cover is very thick. As dry as it is it is very susceptible to fire. We have already had one fire this year. Eskom has not lives up to its mandate as the monopoly supplier of electricity in this country. Behaving in a typically third world manner, it forgot to start building power stations about ten years ago, and now electricity supply is seriously lagging behind demand.

Notwithstanding its recent 37% price increase, it no longer does power line patrols, or any form of preventative maintenance. The upshot: transformers leak, powerlines fall over and transmission cables break. In our case the wood pylon stay broke, and the high voltage cable was touched by an inquisitive heifer. Result one very dead heifer, a fire and about 10ha of burned out veld. Luckily it was noticed quickly before it got out of control. The linesman visited and put in a temporary stay, which, at the time of writing (some 3 weeks after the incident) is still there.

Imagine the outrage if we were as disinterested in our payments as they are in fulfilling their service obligations to the consumers.

The long range weather service GRIB.US is predicting heave rain for the area on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully they have got it right! Will keep you posted.

Cats and Dogs....

One of the unexpected free benefits of the farm came in the form of four fluffy ginger farm cats, and a border collie cross sheep dog - James JMMWG (!) du Preez nicknamed 'Jimmy'. The problem with James is that he is scared of sheep. Not much value added there. He lives to ride on the back of the bakkie (pickup truck) and to eat. The cruelest thing a person can do to him is feed him and then go and start up the diesel bakkie near him. Instant crisis of indecision!

The cats are what is referred to as 'werf' katte; not house cats, but certainly not wild or feral either. The live in the barns and out building and do an amazing job of keeping down rats and mice. They are enormous friendly and fluffy and love being sociable with the family. According to neighbours, all the ginger cats in the district are related to these - a seriously dominant gene pool obviously.