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Trompsburg farmers overwhelmed by assistance after fires

“You feel the damage to your business and farm and can still handle that. But when people supply feed and you know they do not even have enough for themselves, it really touches you and you don’t really know what to say.” This is according to Andries Kotzé,Chairman of the Trompsburg Agricultural Association, about the assistance they received the last few weeks after devastating veldfires.

Kotzé and the farming community are incredibly grateful for the help, feed, donations and money received from businesses, agricultural associations and the general public. According to him assistance has come far beyond their district. The agricultural and South African community opened their hearts after fires caused major damage between 15 and 17 November 2018 in the Trompsburg area.

It was initially difficult to determine the extent of the damage. According to Johann Breytenbach, General Manager of the Free State Umbrella Fire Protection Association, a “smoke column-driven fire” burned 13 600 ha of field or pasture. The affected area was 40 000 ha. Breytenbach said the latter refers to the total area within which the fire occurred or where there was damage.

A total of 82 farms was affected and 256 km of wire or farm fences were destroyed. Breytenbach said it costs about R 11 000 per km to replace fences. A total of 513 sheep and 30 cattle died because of the fires and some farmers lost all their grazing.

Kotzé said assistance came from places such as Fauresmith, Jagersfontein, Edenburg, Colesberg, Reitz, Tweeling, Daniëlsrus, Wepener, Dewetsdorp, Bultfontein, Phillippolis, Bloemfontein and Hopetown. Among the donations were lucerne bales and pills, teff-,  grass-, soya rest- and oat bales, hominy chop, maize, potatoes, as well as feed products and molasses.

Gerhard Kriel, Chief Executive Officer of Free State Agriculture (FSA), also thanked everyone who contributed selflessly. “These contributions to support agriculture are actually contributions to South Africa as a whole. By supporting the Trompsburg farmers, they support people who put food on the table for the country.”

“We have to arrange to collect more donations early next year. We then have to pay the transport and fuel ourselves,” Kotzé said. The money received is for example used for diesel to transport feed. According to him, future needs are specifically feed, such as lucerne and maize, for sheep.

Make a contribution this way

To help the Trompsburg farmers, money can be donated to Friends of Agriculture, a support network for farmers in South Africa. Friends of Agriculture is driven by FSA. Visit http://www.vlvriende.org/ for more information.

Banking details:

Bank: ABSA

Account holder: Vriende van Vrystaat Landbou

Account number: 4094219790

Branch code: 63-2005

Reference: Trompsburg Rampfonds

To offer help or feed, contact Dr Jack Armour, Operations Manager at FSA, at jack@vslandbou.co.za or Elize Spence, Admin Officer at FSA, at elize@vslandbou.co.za. Or call 051 444 4609.

Or make a contribution to the Trompsburg Agricultural Association’s security account.

Banking details:

Bank: ABSA

Account holder: Trompsburg Boereunie-veiligheid

Account number: 9202864386

Branch code: 63-2005

Reference: Brand

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