Where earlier generations deeply ploughed to bury weeds before planting, Smuts now practises a form of conservation farming that leaves the upper soil less disturbed. This reduces erosion and helps conserve scarce moisture in the thin living skin of topsoil.
The trade-off is clear: weeds, especially stubborn ryegrass, remain on the surface and have become harder to control. As a result he sprays more herbicides than before, and fertiliser applied to the crop can also strengthen the competing weeds. The approach protects the soil in one way while increasing reliance on chemical weed control in another.The agricultural calendar begins in the second half of April with canola, followed by wheat from early May. Seed needs immediate moisture for strong germination. Fertiliser is applied at planting and again later to lift protein levels, while spring growth depends heavily on September rain. Harvest runs from October into November. At multiple points the season can collapse: weeds can overwhelm the crop, rain can fail at planting, or—most dangerously—it can fail after the farmer has already spent heavily on seed, fertiliser, diesel, labour, finance and crop protection. Machinery costs are high; a second-hand tractor and air seeder can cost about R4 million, larger combinations far more.
South Africa may have planted the smallest wheat area in nearly a hundred years
Once harvested, the wheat moves to a silo and is sold through brokers or marketing companies. South Africa is a net importer of wheat, so local prices track international markets. Farmers are often forced to sell promptly to service production loans rather than wait for better prices, and higher-quality local grain is not adequately rewarded against imports from countries such as Russia and Australia.Input costs have risen far faster than farm-gate prices. Direct costs climbed roughly 65 percent between 2016 and 2026 while wheat prices rose only about 36 percent. Machinery prices have doubled in five years; fertiliser and diesel have also increased substantially. Rain-fed Swartland yields are typically three tonnes a hectare or less, well below European averages, and most machinery and many inputs are imported while the wheat price is set elsewhere.In 2026 the rain effectively stopped after a wet start. From June through August the region received only about 43 mm against a ten-year average of roughly 202 mm. Farm records showed the driest July in decades and a severely dry August. Failed crops were already being grazed by sheep in the northern Swartland; near Porterville and Moorreesburg losses were severe.
On Grasrug itself the wheat was dying, with expected income reductions of at least 30 percent and far higher in places. The national wheat area planted fell to its smallest since 1929. After an already unprofitable previous season, many farmers struggled to finance the current crop and now face the prospect of being unable to plant again.Canola offers better returns and occupies more ground, yet it is limited by disease rotation requirements and a narrow buyer base; excessive expansion risks flooding the market. Smuts is clear that a wheat farmer cannot currently survive on grain alone. He himself is more secure because he diversified beyond the farm rather than continually expanding land holdings, yet 2026 marks his third consecutive season of multi-million-rand losses. Others who scaled up for efficiency now carry heavier debt. He describes the situation as a massive disaster.
Despite the pressure Smuts still values farming as a legacy and a purpose, a way of honouring previous generations even though he has no children to inherit the land. He will keep Grasrug going, but he sees no viable future for the wheat crop itself if prices, costs and climate risk remain unchanged. The broader series places this struggle against an ecological backdrop in which intensive grain and wine production have already simplified the original Cape landscapes, exhausting seed banks and leaving only fragments of the richer vegetation that once covered the region.
