Extreme Weather Highlights Growing Challenges for South African Blueberry Producers

South Africa’s blueberry industry is demonstrating its resilience following a year of sharply contrasting weather conditions, with extreme rainfall, localised flooding and unusually dry periods creating very different challenges for growers across the country.

Dylan Coleman, Winterwood’s National General Manager in South Africa, has been discussing the impact of the conditions with the International Blueberry Organization (IBO), highlighting both the immediate effects on individual farms and the wider challenge of adapting blueberry production to increasingly unpredictable weather.

During May, parts of South Africa experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall, with some farms recording between 300mm and 400mm of rain in just a few days. The resulting flooding caused significant localised damage, particularly to farm infrastructure, roads and access routes.

The contrast just two months later was striking. Cape Town International Airport recorded its lowest July rainfall since 1958, demonstrating just how quickly conditions can shift from one extreme to another.

For blueberry growers, however, the impact has not been uniform.

While some individual farms have experienced significant disruption and crop losses, others have been much less affected. As a result, the wider South African blueberry industry has remained resilient, with national export volumes expected to remain relatively stable.

Speaking to the IBO, Dylan explained that one of the biggest challenges for growers is now preparing their businesses for greater weather variability.

This includes investing in and protecting farm infrastructure, ensuring reliable access to water, improving drainage and water management, and building greater resilience into day-to-day operations. Extreme weather can also bring considerable additional costs, from repairing roads and riverbanks to managing disrupted access, labour and logistics.

Winterwood experienced first-hand the impact of May’s extreme rainfall at Melwood Farm, where flooding caused extensive erosion and damage to infrastructure. Significant repair and restoration work has since been completed, including rebuilding riverbanks, restoring watercourses and repairing roads and access around the farm.

The recovery demonstrates the importance of being able to respond quickly when extreme conditions occur, while also looking at how farms can be made more resilient in the future.

South Africa has established itself as an important part of the global blueberry supply chain, and its diverse growing regions mean weather events rarely affect the entire industry in the same way. However, increasingly unpredictable conditions are adding another layer of complexity to commercial blueberry production.

For growers, the challenge is no longer simply responding to an individual flood, drought or period of extreme weather, but ensuring farms are equipped to cope with a wider range of conditions in the years ahead.

Dylan’s comments and further analysis of the 2026 South African blueberry season have been published by both the International Blueberry Organization and FreshFruitPortal.

Read the full International Blueberry Organization article:
https://www.internationalblueberry.org/2026/08/13/south-african-blueberry-season-faces-extreme-weather-realities-resilience-amid-localized-disruption/

Read the FreshFruitPortal coverage:
https://www.freshfruitportal.com/news/2026/08/31/sa-blueberry-weather/