FARMERS in Mpumalanga are banding together to fight land claims as a collective following studies showing that more than 41% or 3,2-million hectares of the province’s commercial agricultural land is under claim. The initiative will see the creation of a defence fund, special legal teams and technical advisors to manage immediate legal responses to all potential land claims. Farmers say the initiative is designed to be a coherent national response to land claims. They say production in Mpumalanga is seriously threatened with more than 41% of the province’s commercial agricultural land under claim.