On the cusp of the Royal Gala, Packham and Forelle harvests in the Langkloof, hail accompanied by what has been described as a tornado, tore through the eastern part of the valley late afternoon last Thursday. The Granor Passi juice factory opened over the weekend to take in the thousands of crates with fallen or slightly damaged fruit.
Wind damage in Krakeel and Louterwater is very serious, even under drape nets where ripe Forelle due to be harvested hung loosely on their stalks. Forelle is possibly the highest value fruit grown in the Langkloof. In the Royal Gala orchards under drape nets, wind losses appear lower, and there is still marketable fruit.
"The areas where hail fell sustained a lot of damage," says Johan Kotzé from Dutoit Agri. "We're talking from around 50% to 100%. The Forelles were only two to three weeks away from being harvested."
© Riaan Strydom
"We'd just started with the Packhams," says Marius van der Westhuizen of Southern Fruit Growers. "It's just the start of the Royal Gala harvest; by far the most fruit was still on the trees. Exporters are definitely going to miss that fruit."
© Niet PotentieelOn their farm close to Joubertina, Van der Westhuizen reckons the damage to be on average 87%, while on their farms around Misgund and Haarlem, no damage was incurred. He refers to the 2024 season when multiple hail incidents left no farm in the entire Langkloof without some degree of hail damage.
First tornado in living memory
Langkloof residents say they have never experienced one in the valley in living memory; since this incident, weather forecasts have repeated tornado warnings.
Right: a tornado warning for Joubertina, Langkloof, issued after last week's tornado
"In my 33 years in Twee Riviere, I have never experienced a tornado," says local resident Adriaan Botha. "It's something outside the usual realm. Rain is flying, gleaming white, completely horizontal, at 100+ km/h. As it's happening, you realise it's something utterly new to you. The word 'tornado' only comes later."
Lost opportunity in buoyant export season
Besides the direct losses in the orchard, there is the lost opportunity of exporting in a buoyant season (apart from a strengthening local currency), plus the lost opportunities for those in the packaging, cooling, and transport industries.
Although juicing doesn't cover half of average production costs, a grower observes, it is some return, but only if the fruit is not overly damaged.
© Riaan Strydom
The impact is impossible to quantify at this stage, Kotze says, noting that up until Christmas, they'd been bullish about the upcoming crop, but with accumulating heat units and underirrigation as farm dams started emptying, the growth rate slowed down, but the foliage was still looking verdant.
The tornado and hail were accompanied by 20mm to 40mm of rain, welcome in an area where rain last fell months ago, and the dams have been running dry.
