If you've noticed the past couple of summers felt unusually wet and green, and you're now hearing weather presenters use the words "El Niño" again, you're not imagining things. In an update issued on 3 August 2026, the World Meteorological Organization said El Niño is developing and continuing to intensify steadily, on track to reach strong intensity during August to October and to peak between November 2026 and February 2027. UN Secretary General António Guterres put it more bluntly: "El Niño is not just on our doorstep; it is inside the house and turning up the heat."
We felt it in the veld already, grass came right nice past two seasons. Now everybody must brace again. I remember 2015, 2016 drought, lost cattle we shouldnt have lost because we waited too long to destock. Lesson I learned, dont wait for the dam to be dry before you make a plan.
If this El Nino peaks like they saying, farmers must start now, check borehole capacity, sort out fodder budget, maybe sell down the herd earlier rather than panic sell later when everyone else is selling too and price drops. Government wont help much, they never do, so plan your own water and feed. Common sense mos.
Western Cape gets overlooked in these El Niño briefings because attention always goes to maize farmers and the summer rainfall regions, but for us it typically means a drier winter, and after living through 2018 I don’t find that easy to dismiss. Theewaterskloof was at 13% in February that year and the mountain catchments were basically dust. The fire risk is its own issue too, dry fynbos in a southeaster on the Peninsula is a different kind of ugly.