THE Klipp brothers had never heard of snow falling on their sugar cane farms on their adjacent properties in the Midlands until they saw it before their eyes last weekend.
Not since 1922, according to stories their grandfather told them, when it whitened the scenery around Dalton.
But back then, sugar cane had not yet been introduced to the area, said Conrad, 61, whose arrival in the world was a couple of years before that of sugar cane in the area.
“It was in July 1922,” he said. “Back then, they did mixed farming.”
The family arrived in the area from Germany in 1881 and the brother’s great-grandfather bought a farm after working as a blacksmith for three years.
Last weekend’s white weather started with sleet falling.
“I went on to the Internet to look up the difference between sleet and snow. It said the one was crystals and the other was flake.
“Then the flakes started to come down.”
Younger brother Henning, 10 years Conrad’s junior, said he had not yet established whether the snowfall had affected the growing points of his sugar cane.
Taller cane tended to have collapsed under its weight while shorter varieties stood up to it.
“The snow just fell off it,” he said.
Henning said the snow appeared to have protected the crop from the cold temperatures because of the “igloo effect” – by forming a blanket around the plant.
“However, some green leaves were singed.”
The Klipps’ farms are at about 1 000m above sea level.
Thomas Funke, chief executive officer at SA Canegrowers Association, said snow had been recorded in a number of cane growing areas
“The snow has caused some lodging of cane but at this stage we have not observed a severe impact,” said Funke.
He said the snow was also only present for one night and the organisation did not believe it caused any major damage.
“I certainly cannot recall that we have had snow before, especially as widespread as was experienced on Saturday. The Midlands areas are far more prone to frost than to snow.”
The Independent on Saturday