The new season is almost upon us and everything is ready for us to plant our summer crop come the end of October. The problem is, it hasn’t rained yet.

Last summer was significantly drier than average, with winter rainfall being normal – zero precipitation. We haven’t received any significant rain since March.

According to the calendar it is now spring, but the thermometer says summer (38C as I write) while the countryside looks like winter – dead, in other words.

To add to all this, the Pacific Ocean is warming, otherwise known as El Nino.

El Nino is Spanish and means “the boy”, referring to the baby Jesus, since this phenomenon, when it occurs, manifests itself in the run-up to Christmas.

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Although the waters of the Pacific Ocean warm, the effects are felt much wider. El Nino results in changes to the ocean currents, trade winds and rainfall patterns across the world.

I farm on the eastern portion of South Africa where El Nino is supposed to make things drier and warmer than normal, particularly in mid-summer, when rain is crucial for us.

Amid all this some may ask: “Why plant at all?” We have been practicing no-till on this farm for more than 20 years and have grown the whole farm to winter cover crops for the past two years.

We try not to graze the fields too heavily to leave organic cover on the soil. All this improves soil health, helps rainfall infiltration and reduces evaporation, making the rain we receive more effective.

It is going to rain. I don’t know when and I don’t know how much, but it will and so I will plant.

South African farmers have faced devastating fires, crippling droughts, barn-collapsing snow and even political regime changes.

Through all of this we have thrived. So when scientists warn us about El Nino, the weather phenomenon, I prefer to trust in El Nino, The Boy.

Bruce Shepherd farms in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He plants 320ha rain-fed summer crops. He also runs 2,200 weaner oxen on pastures, finishing them in a feedlot with maize grown on the farm