Oyster farming in Saldanha Bay
Oyster farming offers several advantages: it’s sustainable, has low-impact, and produces naturally organic and healthy food.
The Darling of bush vine wine
Grown on dry, unirrigated land, Darling Wines of Origin produce wines with intense flavour and have proven to be as popular locally as abroad.
An integrated eco-farming business
Farmer Tom Turner runs an unsual mixed farming operation with his father Frank Turner near Wellington in the Western Cape. By working with and for the sake of nature, Bontebok...
Diversifying for profitability in Zambia
Although Zambia has a thriving agricultural sector, much of the industry still lags in the implementation of modern practices and technologies for improved productivity and profitability. One operation, however, is...
Plans to diversify to ensure sustainability
Gugu Mlipha is the SA Agricultural Writers’ New Entrant to Commercial Farming for 2015. She farms vegetables on 6ha in Walkerville, Gauteng, and also runs a vegetable processing business. She...
Potatoes: lessons from the UK
Leading UK potato producer Tony Bambridge was recently sponsored by Syngenta to give a presentation at the Potatoes SA Congress on potato production and market trends in his home country....
Keeping track of livestock production profitability
The Namibian Agricultural Union’s Production-Cost Index is a valuable tool for determining and monitoring price trends in the country’s livestock production industries, according to Jaco Hanekom, the union’s assistant manager...
Transporting produce in SA – yesterday, today and tomorrow
The cost of transportation has become an ever-greater burden for SA farmers. There are several reasons, for this. Transport consultant Alistair Christison and Prof Jan Havenga, director of the Supply...
Get ready: sustainable farming is here to stay
The definition of successful production is changing. Where high output and farm profits were the main measures of farming success in the past, today what matters just as much is...
The big cheese of Darling
Within four years of its launch, a micro cheese enterprise in Darling is experiencing macro demand from gourmet outlets across the Western Cape for its soft European-style cheeses – a...
Cut electricity costs with wood gasification
A South African company, CLC Solar Wind Energy, has recently developed a cost-effective gasifier to allow farmers to generate electricity from wood or stone fruit pits. Chris Coetzee, project manager...
Farming in Zambia: a South African’s story
In 1997, father-and-son farming team Keith and Chris Clubb moved from their Gauteng-based farming operation to establish what is now a large commercial mixed farming operation in Zambia. Chris, a...
Traceability systems in the SA food industry
If the South African food industry wishes to compete successfully on a global scale, a viable and workable traceability system must be introduced and adopted, says Anné Calitz, research assistant...
Mastering the sport of kings in South Africa
Until about two decades ago, SA racehorse breeders tended to purchase stallions that were very good, but not exceptional. In more recent years, the stallions used in South Africa are...
A first in SA maize milling
Soweto businessman Xolani Ndzaba has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He spoke to Luyolo Mkentane about how he founded Lethabo Milling, SA’s first black-owned milling company.
Simply adding value to honey
Four years ago, Simply Bee was selling bottled honey from 240 hives. Today, the company manufactures more than 50 products from over 600 hives, selling them at 163 outlets across...
Convenience now drives retail choices
The big grocery retailers in the UK underwent considerable growth between 1990 and 2010. In more recent years, this trend has reversed, with most of these supermarkets experiencing a slump...
How teamwork works for KZN’s macadamia growers
Macadamia nuts are in huge demand internationally, yet global production is nowhere near meeting this. A teamwork strategy in KwaZulu-Natal is aiming to take full advantage of the growth potential...
Durbanville Hills wine cellar
Over the past three years, Durbanville Hills wine cellar has saved thousands of rands simply by changing the way it uses electricity. Cellar master Martin Moore talked to Glenneis Kriel...
Maize by the bucketful for household producers
An Eastern Cape distributor is marketing a unique maize seed pack to communal homestead maize producers with notable success. Mike Burgess visited Border Seed Distributors to investigate why this product...
ADVERTISEMENT
MUST READS
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
