Agribusiness

Training and performance monitoring are key to encouraging productivity in the workforce. Labour consultant Walter Blore shifts the paradigm and puts farming businesses on track. Robyn Joubert reports.

It’s a hard day’s work for the team as livestock farmer Gary Mitchell runs his commercial Drakensbergers and stud Dorpers in the KZN Midlands with minimal labour.

Clean renewable energy or an imperfect solution? Are wind turbines the magic bullet for energy problems? Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.

Agricultural machinery and implements are vital to any commercial farming operation. It’s equally important that this equipment is well managed and maintained. Lloyd Phillips reports.

Johan Rabie compares the investment performance of high value game species – with specific reference to buffalo and sable antelope – with investing on the JSE and other prominent stock exchanges.

Two generations of Kotzés farm more than a dozen different lines on their historic Sandveld farm between Velddrif and Hopefield. For them, the pros far outweigh the cons of farming with the family. Keri Harvey reports.

Laurens Schlebusch believes business associations between commercial farmers and farm workers will become increasingly important in the future. He talks to Annelie Coleman about grooming selected members of his staff for partnership positions.

World maize consumption is expected to increase by 31,9 million tons this season. Loffie Brandt of Absa AgriBusiness reports on these and other trends both locally and globally.

A new, environmentally sensitive fire management system is being introduced in the KNP. Peter Mashala spoke to Nick Zambatis, manager of biodiversity, and Danie Pienaar, head of scientific services, about the changes.

Transport costs and traditions have made it difficult for communal farmers to play a major role in the commercial livestock industry. In KwaZulu-Natal, this situation is changing as auctioneers mobilise to take business to the people. Lloyd Phillips reports.

Petrus Bosman (31), the Santam-Agri Western Cape Young Farmer of the Year 2012, is the managing director of his family’s wine and vine farming business in Wellington. He spoke to Denene Erasmus about having a positive attitude in the wine industry and the satisfaction of looking after employees.

Worldwide, small-scale farmers struggle for market access. Retail giant Walmart assists growers by sourcing produce directly from them. Peter Mashala accompanied Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson to Costa Rica to view a case study of the model’s success.