Is there a future for derivatives in SA’s wine industry?
Surplus wine in global markets is squeezing the profitability of many South African wine farmers. It has been proposed that a derivative instrument should be introduced for the wine industry to help stabilise bulk wine prices and create transparency for all industry role-players. In principle this would be similar to the futures market on which SA grain farmers can trade to hedge price risks.
Communal land: a breeding ground for corruption
A law privatising millions of hectares of communal land has been held up for years by court action and opposition from traditional leaders. In the meantime, pressure on adjacent commercial farming districts keeps increasing, with tensions reaching breaking point in some areas.
Charter: business size clarified
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should announce how it intends determining whether a farming business is characterised as large, medium or small for the purposes of AgriBEE by the end of the month
Issue Date: 2 February 2007
Empowerment: the secret to its success
'You're either in, or you're out!' Glenneis Erasmus reports on the Hex River Valley farmers and farmworkers who are 'in' and making transformation work.
Milking better health and learning for all South Africans
The dairy industry and various government departments are hoping to join forces to introduce a school milk progamme to improve the health and learning abilities of South Africa's children.
An agricultural odyssey Down Under
It's big, it's flat, it's a land of extremes - including blistering droughts. But while farming remains a fundamental part of Australian life, it has taken a heavy toll on the enviroment. Chris and Mathilde Stuart take a tour of Australia and discovered problems that make South African farmers' woes seem almost manageable.
Living his farming dream among sticks and stones
'Farming is not for sissies', says emerging commercial farmer André Thops of Olyfkloof farm in the Hex River Valley. He sites the lack of cash flow and access to funds as the key restraining factors experienced by emerging farmers. To counter these factors he diversifies his wine grape, olive and broiler chicken operations with
cash crops.
Effective management: the key to emu excellence
Following the article“Untapped emu oil well -a lucrative alternative?”published in Farmer's Weekly on 19 October 2006, SA emu farmer Shane Trollope was inundated with more than 300 enquiries about this new and potentially lucrative enterprise. As a result Shane and the SA Emu Association hosted an Emu Information Day on his farm. Lloyd Phillips discovers some valuable management tips for aspirant emu farmers.
