Expropriation bill “risks credit flight, downgrades” for SA
Sharing their report on the latest iteration of the Expropriation Bill (B23-2020), Free State Agriculture (FSA) held a media conference on 11 December, highlighting their concerns should the Bill succeed...
World’s largest pig farm aims to produce 2 million hogs a year
Chinese pig producer Muyuan Foods grew its profits by 1 413% in the first nine months of 2020 to 21 billion yuan (about R48 billion), after the company started operations...
Top score for SA Wagyu x Angus carcass on Japanese scale
Members of South Africa’s five-year-old Wagyu South Africa beef cattle society have expressed excitement about the rare 15 marbling score recently achieved by a locally produced 490,4kg and DNA-verified Wagyu...
Optimism as SA’s late table grape crop is rushed to markets
Roughly 95% of South Africa’s table grape crop is exported, and as a result, the current delay experienced in harvesting has resulted in a rush to get the fruit to...
Agriculture continues its positive contribution to GDP
South Africa’s farming sector continued its positive growth and contribution to national gross domestic product (GDP) during the third quarter of 2020 (Q3 2020).
SA soils ‘extremely degraded’ by unsustainable farming
South Africa’s soils are extremely degraded, and over the past 100 years, the country has lost up to 50% of the carbon content in cultivated soils.
Water stress affects more than 80% of SA cropland
Very high levels of water stress or very high drought frequency affect about 1,2 billion people living in agricultural areas globally.
Farmers urged to report locust sightings
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has urged farmers in the Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape to report any sightings of locust swarms so that...
Good rain staves off effects of diesel increase
While the increase in diesel prices would usually be felt by grain farmers in the process of planting, good rain has allowed farmers in the central and western parts of...
SA agribusiness confidence shoots to six-year high
Although current sentiments for South Africa’s agriculture sector are generally positive, parts of the sector, such as the tobacco and wine value chains, are now feeling the financial aftershocks of...
Free roaming elephants a rising problem for Namibian farmers
Conflict between humans and Namibia’s growing elephant population can be described as a “problem of success”, says Colin Nott, a Namibian regenerative agricultural consultant.
Growing evidence of chemical resistance in cutworm
Widespread damage to crops due to cutworm infestations has been reported in several provinces, and there are early indications that the pest has built up resistance to chemical treatments.
