NEWS
Red grass phenomenon has
farmers scratching heads
Current Address: Stockfarm
Reprinted From: http://bit.ly/2SS1sXT
Izak Hofmeyr
“O
ur red grass did not seed this
year,” said Cas Human of
the Van Reenen area a few
months ago. Arthur de Villiers, a well-
known stud breeder, confirmed this
statement shortly thereafter at a farm-
ers’ day: He noticed the same prob-
lem with red grass in the area where he
farms between Memel and Vrede in the
Free State.
Stockfarm spoke to Rick Dillon of Wa-
terfall Farm near Van Reenen, hoping to
find some answers. Years ago, Rick com-
pleted his master’s dissertation on red
grass under Prof Neil Tainton.
Rick grew up in the region and was an
extension officer in Harrismith for many
years. He has a burning passion for the
environment and was instrumental in
the establishment of the 60 000ha con-
servation area on the Van Reenen es-
carpment. Figure 1: Red grass has been under great pressure due to management practices
in the region.
Regenerative agriculture Influence of fires However, this has increased pressure on
red grass.
According to Rick, there can be several
reasons why the red grass did not seed.
This occurrence, however, compelled
him to remark on the concept of re-
generative agriculture, a practice that is
gaining traction in especially crop farm-
ing. His second point is that fires have a
huge effect on the veld. Whereas fires
used to occur due to lightning that set
the veld ablaze in early spring and late
summer, the current situation very dif-
ferent. “We are now faced with a situation
where red grass has not only been
burned, but also severely overgrazed.
Instead of moving livestock to Natal for
the winter as was traditionally the case,
the veld is now continuously utilised.”
The first point he makes is that red grass
has been under enormous pressure for
decades due to grazing and manage-
ment practices commonly applied in
the region. “Farmers burn their own veld every year
to utilise the newly sprouting grass,
known as the ‘spring flush’. The veld
does not really get a chance to build up
organic matter. This leads to severe ero-
sion, water that cannot penetrate the
soil and veld degradation.” Nature of the red grass tuft
“There are stretches of veld that have
been severely trampled. These areas
appear white in winter, compared to
the reddish colour of the red grass, and
are usually unused fields, places where
livestock have spent the night, or over-
grazed areas. In short, the veld is show-
ing significant damage. If you look at
the winter veld today, the white areas
are much more extensive than the red
areas. Red grass should actually repre-
sent 75% of the veld.”
27
The third point Rick emphasises is the
fact that the use of urea has brought
about a complete revolution in the utili-
sation of sourveld on the Highveld.
“Traditionally farmers had to move to
sweeter parts in winter because the veld
couldn’t sustain the animals through-
out the season. Urea has completely
changed this; it is now possible for live-
stock to overwinter on the veld where
they can utilise dry, unpalatable grass.
His fourth point pertains to the nature of
the red grass tuft. “The growing points
of other grass species in the area are
found underground. The growing point
of red grass, however, is situated in the
tuft above the ground. This means that
intense fire or even intense frost can de-
stroy the growing point,” he explains.
The question as to why the red grass did
not seed this year, he says, can have sev-
eral answers. It could have been caused
by intense fire or by intense frost dur-
ing late spring. Both these phenomena,
however, will likely be localised.
“It is also possible that the drought,
which only truly broke in January this
Grassroots
Vol 20
No 1
March 2020