News

Finding solutions to the challenge of financing farmers during drought has become extremely difficult.

The per capita consumption of dairy products has surged in China in recent years due to that country’s growing economy, which has resulted in an increase in the living standards of the general population.

Grain SA has urged farmers to continue scouting for crop pests such as caterpillars on their lands. The commodity organisation said in a statement released on Thursday that delayed plantings of maize across much of the western and central maize belt in South Africa had been a major concern for growers this season.

Producer-owned apple and pear packing and storage business in the Elgin district, Two-a-Day Group, recently donated more than R500 000 to the Agri Western Cape drought relief fund.

Diversified agriculture and forestry company TWK Investment Ltd has announced a 4,3% increase in its revenue from R3,7 billion to R3,9 billion for the six months ended 28 February 2019.

EU member states have voted to ban the use of the active ingredient chlorothalonil in fungicides, a move that agricultural industry role players say will leave crops particularly vulnerable to disease.

The Namibian Dare to Care Disaster Fund is currently standing at R2,2 million. Ryno van der Merwe, president of the Namibian Agricultural Union (NAU), said the fund had made it possible to subsidise more than 40 000 bags of animal feed to date.

Despite having lost its foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free status in January 2019, South African authorities have negotiated the resumption of trade in livestock products between the country and a number of export destinations.

Farmers in the dairy, poultry and egg industries in Canada were awarded CAD3,9 billion (about R42 billion) in income-protection funding during the country’s latest budget tabled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the House of Commons in Ottawa last week.

There has been mixed reaction to the newly implemented soya levy from industry role players, due to concerns among farmers about profitability as a result of the ongoing drought.

Heavy rainfall across the Missouri River and Mississippi River basins has ravaged much of the US Midwest this week

The eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has refuted claims by the DA that the 12 poultry houses purchased by the municipality in 2017 for R14,4 million have fallen into disrepair.

Chubaka Xulu, a representative of the law firm B Xulu and Partners Incorporated in Cape Town, has strongly denied that there was anything untoward about the legal services the firm rendered to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

A top racing pigeon named Armando has been sold for 1,25 million euros (about R20,5 million) in an online auction, the highest-price ever achieved for a single pigeon in such an auction.

The soya industry is expected to receive a boost of R1 billion per year from the recently imposed Breeding and Technology Levy (BTL).

The overall improvement in business sentiment during the first quarter of 2019 is a welcome development, but confidence levels in the agricultural sector are still at levels below the neutral 50-point mark.

The highly competitive nature of the global beef export market was among the key trends highlighted during the SA Feedlot Association’s Cattleman’s Conference in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

As a proud member of the South African media and agricultural landscape for the past 108 years, Farmer’s Weekly is celebrating a significant milestone today.

The precipitation outlook for the Swartland region does not look favourable this winter, according to Overberg Agri weather forecaster, Giel Hugo.

South Africa’s land reform process in its current form needs to “sink like the Titanic”, according to Nick Serfontein, member of the advisory panel created to support the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform.