The Western Cape is experiencing a marked increase in inquiries from people wanting to buy farms in the province, despite the prevailing drought.
Farmers’ representative body Agri West Cape said many farmers, especially from the northern parts of the country, were looking to relocate to the Western Cape in spite of the region’s agricultural sector suffering from the worst drought in decades.
Agri West Cape CEO Carl Opperman told Business Day he had been fielding calls from farmers, particularly from Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape, inquiring about farm properties in the Western Cape.
Farms in the province cost anything in the region of R2.5m for a smallholding to more than R15m for large-scale or “lifestyle” farms.
“I am not finding a lot of people putting up their farms for sale … but a lot of farmers from the north are looking for farms in the Cape area, despite the drought and the uncertainty around the land reform project,” said Opperman.
