News

The Western Cape Department of Local Government has brought forward the province’s 2020/2021 fire season declaration, following a request by Agri Western Cape to ensure the safety of the 2020 harvest.

A recent decision by EU agriculture ministers to set aside a portion of the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP) budget for programmes that protect the environment has come under fire from environmental organisations for not going far enough.

With the lingering after-effects of a crippling drought, and the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan likely to kick in next year, it was time that all stakeholders in South African agriculture started taking responsibility for their role in protecting the country’s scarce freshwater resources. This was according to water conservation and water law experts, who were speaking during Nedbank’s webinar, ‘The future of water in South Africa’s agricultural sector’, held on Tuesday, 3 November.

The South African berry producers’ association, Berries ZA, will have to conduct an investigation after a shipment of South African blueberries was seized in the Netherlands in the week of 26 October, according to Elzette Schutte, the association’s manager.

Communities in the areas of the Free State devastated by the recent wildfires in the region have expressed their gratitude for the overwhelming humanitarian aid flowing in from all corners of South Africa.

South Africa is deeply indebted and economic growth is expected to contract even more than initially anticipated.

The South African Table Grape Industry’s (SATI) first crop estimate for the 2020/2021 season is signalling a return to normal production volumes, following mostly climate-related challenges in recent years.

South Africa’s commercial and stud beef cattle breeders have so far donated more than 300 heifers to the Afrikaner Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa’s Sponsor a Heifer initiative in aid of the victims of the devastating wildfires in the western Free State.

A recent investment of US$372 million (about R6,14 billion) will allow French company, Ÿnsect, to complete its new insect farming enterprise.

Losses of livestock and infrastructure are expected to run into millions of rand following the devastating wildfires that raged across large parts of the Free State during the past week.

Potato prices across all classes and markets reached record levels of more than R80 for a 10kg bag in October, surpassing the previous record set in 2016 of R63/10kg bag, according to Dr Andre Jooste, CEO of Potatoes South Africa.

South Africa is currently faced with a wine glut of 289 million litres, due to the ban on the sale of liquor during the lockdown period to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beef cattle sales in Namibia have fallen 31% so far this year compared with the same period in 2019, despite producer price increases of 2% for slaughter cattle and 39% for weaners.

Raging wildfires that have destroyed nearly 100 000ha in the western Free State since Sunday, 18 October, are being fanned by strong winds. The fires reportedly started on Sunday when service delivery protesters burned tyres on the R708 road between Hertzogville and Christiana.

According to DA MP Annette Steyn, protest action that took place in Senekal in the Free State, where two men accused of the murder of farm manager Brendin Horner appeared for their bail hearing in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 16 October, had been mostly peaceful.

While organised agriculture bodies have welcomed many of the actions and goals set out in the economic restructure and recovery plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa this week, they want more details on how it will be effectively implemented.

There is mounting concern about global wheat supplies, as dry weather conditions persist in the Black Sea region, the US and Australia, sending international wheat prices skyrocketing to a near five-year high in recent weeks.

Police Minister Bheki Cele has undertaken to investigate the allegations of police involvement in the livestock theft that plague farmers in the eastern Free State. This was according to Herkie Viljoen, chairperson of the Bethlehem Agriculture Union and Security organisation.

No farmer wants to be the person who loses the multi-generational farm. This was according to Prof Joan Mazur, deputy director of the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention at the University of Kentucky in the US, speaking out about soaring suicide rates among farmers around the world.

Due to the ban on wine sales during the national lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the South African wine industry has been left with an unprecedented oversupply of wine.