136 ha Farm in Uitenhage Rural

Elandsrivier Farm

Location

The farm is situated 35km from the western suburbs of P.E. with only 8kms of this distance being gravel road.

Size

Made up of one title, the property is just over 136 ha in extent and borders onto Groendal Wilderness Reserve.

Description

To me this area of the Eastern Cape between the Elandsrivier and the Kwazungu River is one of the prettiest pieces of real estate in the province. The topography is comprised of a series of ridges and valleys plus the low lying flood plain that was carved over time by the Elands River that meanders through the property forming an oxbow like formation. This river system is home to both small mouth and large mouth bass and there are even fish eagles to complete this picture perfect setting. Water is in abundance and the farm offers a truly lush setting with good grazing and densely vegetated slopes which translates into a relatively high grazing capacity in addition to the fantastic available browse matter.

Veld types

The farm is made up of a combination of sweet thorn, grassveld and dense Cape valley bushveld as well as some forest. The almost ideal combination of browse and graze is evident in the game species diversity found on the property plus in conjunction theres also livestock grazing on this farm. Grass species found include Digitaria Smutsii, Eriantha, perennial Pannicums, Kikuyu and Cynodon Dactylon. While the latter grass species can be of marginal value in harder areas, here by virtue of the fertile soils and high rainfall, it is a superb grazing grass and is well used most of the year. Tree species include: wild olive, milkwood, yellowwood, candlewood, cape plain, euphorbia, cabbage tree, common guarri, boerbean and sweet thorn. Two south facing slopes at the northern end of the property also display some fynbos elements which are associated with sourveld whereas the rest of the farm is sweetveld and the Elandsrivier Valley is known to be a meeting point (mixture) of both habitat types.

Rainfall

The farm falls in a transition summer / winter rainfall area with an annual average of 600mm.