To place the prohibitive costs of farm electricity generation in perspective, the average Ceres farm usually has an electricity bill of R400 000 per month, but the energy bill skyrockets to over R1 million in the event of permanent stage 2 loadshedding, through the costs of diesel to run generators. Our farmers cannot afford this extra expense, and will be forced to pass higher costs on to consumers, meaning even more food inflation is to be expected.
