In order for the hard-pressed agricultural community to thrive, the industry should “cut out the deadwood” and focus its energy and resources on critical issues it could immediately influence and control, said Groenewald in a recent statement.
It was important for farmers to focus on their farms’ strategies to promote food production and these included record keeping, analysing cash flow patterns, ensuring mechanisation is adequate, looking at unproductive assets and maintaining good labour relations, among others, said Groenewald.
He said industry organisations, including, among others, AgriSA, Afasa, Agbiz, Asuf and the Banking Association of South Africa, “should address the farmer’s concerns and continue with the task of sustaining commercial agriculture by negotiating the most appropriate and executable solutions”.
