Desperate to reap the former homelands’ elusive harvests
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...
Moringa: A tree for all seasons
The moringa tree is being touted as the ideal biodiesel crop for communities farming on marginal soils, writes Robyn Joubert.
Developing an award-winning bed and breakfast on-farm
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...
Saving a community’s chicken farm
A six-year-old, municipal-funded, community-based broiler project near East London in the Eastern Cape has struggled to survive due to poor management and chronic theft. But it achieved a R26 000...
Here’s an opportunity to farm in Africa
Thanks to an established South African-based farming company, adventurous local farmers can now broaden their horizons with an opportunity to farm in other African countries.
‘Angus is a farmer we look up to’
A phenomenal 200 000+ men attended this year's Mighty Men Conference. Led by renowned preacher, farmer and Farmer's Weekly columnist Angus Buchan at his family's Shalom Farm outside Greytown in...
A ‘farmer’s market’ for carbon credits?
Farmers are well-equipped to capture and store tons of carbon in the soil, locking in greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. So why can't they turn a profit on it? Peter...
Grooming SA farmers for European markets
A Danish businessman's tenacity and the commitment of a group of local emerging farmers have built up a thriving commercial business that enables its producers to compete on European markets....
Irrigation Focus-Pumps
Pumps: expert advice on solving problems before they start. Good selection, good maintenance and proper installation are all equally important to pump life, says Bob Mackie of APE pumps and...
Broilers transform Keiskammahoek
Despite its pastoral traditions of extensive cattle farming, profitable agriculture in the former homelands is today often the result of intensification. In the Keiskamma area of the former Ciskei for...
Meat inspections: waiting on government
The Meat Safety Act was passed seven years ago but the local industry is still waiting for it to be fully enforced. While it waits for the agriculture department to...
200km, three days
The largest endurance ride in the world is held each year in the small Free State town of Fauresmith. The 34th championship in July drew a record entry of 376...
Hoedspruit land claim: coming to fruition
Collapsed land reform farms are depressingly common in South Africa, but in Marulaneng (Hoedspruit) claimants and farmers have teamed up and their fruit estates are flourishing. In fact, the district...
Prelude to a disaster Loskop Dam goes toxic
Mining pollution threatens to turn Loskop Dam into the largest toxic acid lake in Africa, as decades of coal mining on the Mpumalanga Highveld starts to catch up with us....
Emalahleni by-laws to tame killer dogs
A heated debate took place at the Indwe police station between police, Emalahleni municipal officials and farmers from Indwe and Dordrecht.
Bringing up broilers
Robyn Joubert visited Hanbury Chickens, a family-run broiler business in KwaZulu- Natal. Modest and efficient, the Hanburys use modern methods to get the most out of their birds - guaranteeing...
Why we can’t lose the renosterveld
As it made way for the sprawling croplands of the Western Cape, renosterveld became synonymous with agricultural non-productivity, earning itself names like uitvalgrond. But, as Odette Curtis writes, this shrinking...
Sizwe’s stud success
In 1994 Sizwe Manjezi acquired some 900ha near Peddie in the Eastern Cape to expand his family tradition of cattle farming. Even though he's at the helm of a respected...
Fighting cross-border stock theft: making a way of a will
Feeling let down by government policing efforts, a group of farmers in rural KwaZulu-Natal have established their own innovative and successful system to fight stock theft between the province and...
Orange spuds feeding the nation
In South Africa's rural areas children have alarmingly low levels of vitamin A, which can result in infections, blindness and even death. To combat this critical deficiency, researchers suggest the...
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