Agribusiness

Eastern Cape's Umnga flats was once a highly productive commercial farming area. But it slipped into decay in the early 1980s, when commercial farmers were relocated and the farms were leased to emerging farmers and incorporated into the former Transkei bantustan.

Once Eskom's poster boy for electrified greenhouse heating, cut-flower farmer David Gates feels he has now been hung out to dry by the state utility. The annual fees he's charged are up to R150 000 before he's even flicked on a switch, and they're crippling his business.

Cape Town-based entrepreneur Wynand Odendaal says spekboom is ready to take the carbon market by storm – and earn some farmers big money. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.

The planned ethanol-from-sugar-beet project in Cradock looks like it's going ahead. But the farming community has been left divided, with some excited by the prospect of new markets, while others dread increased crime and a disrupted community.

Elezane Industries started as a community development project in 1999 and is now South Africa's first live-snail exporting business. It creates hundreds of jobs while also offering an environmentally friendly solution to the snail problem on Cape farms.

Etienne Rabe of integrated citrus company Biogold USA believes introducing new citrus varieties that cater to changing consumer demands is key to ensuring the global citrus industry remains competitive. A progressive grower can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and new management tools can greatly reduce the risks involved.

It seems people can come on your land and kill you with impunity these days, but woe betide the farmer who fiddles with a watercourse or indulges in a “listed activity” without the proper permission. A host of legislation now determines what you can and can’t do on your land. And failure to comply, even through omission, can lead to hefty fines and even imprisonment. Advocate Douw Venter takes us through the fine print.

The current low maize price, with supply greatly exceeding demand, is a problem for most maize farmers. Henry-Ben Rheede, Standard Bank’s agricultural adviser for the northern Free State shares some creative ideas on how to counter, survive and even profit from the situation.

A business plan will differ according to the size and technical complexity of the business.

After producing vegetable seedlings for almost 40 years, Dux Meintjes knows how to adapt to market demands. These days, that may mean less reliance on commercial farmers and more attention to the hawker, communal and emerging sectors.

Government-funded development agency Asgisa Eastern Cape, food giant Unilever South Africa and the Development Bank of South Africa recently signed an agreement in East London to promote crop production to supply Unilever’s processed food range. Mike Burgess assesses the developmental challenges that may face this agreement, as reflected in a paprika project near Keiskammahoek, and possible long-term solutions to an embarrassing developmental vacuum in the region.

While the hospitality industry isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, an Mpumalanga farming couple has been able to successfully marry their farming business with a now internationally renowned and multi-award-winning, four-star on-farm accommodation and dining establishment. Lloyd Phillips reports.