News

The annual inflation increase for both farm and forestry worker wages have brought the possible mandatory May 2018 minimum wage into question again.

The South African grain production industry is faced with uncertainty around production, the number of hectares planted and the full effects of the drought, said Grain SA economist Michelle Mokone.

The good news is that rainfall conditions for most of the summer rainfall region are likely to improve from mid- to late summer. The bad news is that drought conditions are expected to continue in the winter rainfall region. This is according to Johan van den Berg, manager of Specialised Crop Insurance at Santam Agriculture.

Since its outbreak in the northern parts of Zambia in April 2017, African swine fever has resulted in the culling of more than 20 000 pigs.

According to Wandile Sihlobo, agricultural economist and head of agribusiness research at Agbiz, current forecasts indicated that the petrol and diesel prices could decrease by 34c/ℓ and 19c/ℓ respectively in February.

The producer price for milk reached R5,10/ℓ to R5,20/ℓ in December, its highest level since 2014, according to the Milk Producer’s Organisation (MPO).

Despite a stronger rand:dollar exchange rate, the South African wool market started the season on a positive note, as a result of strong demand for wool globally, with the Merino Indicator closing at R188,08 (clean).

For the first time since the competition was initiated in 1834, a category for cream has been included in the South African Dairy Championships.

The UK government is planning to introduce an agricultural policy that prioritises environmental protection and emphasises the links between food, farming and public health.

Current assessments put the damage suffered by table grape producers in the Olifants River production region following the heatwave experienced during December last year, at about 500 000 cartons of 4,5kg each.

Agri industry stakeholders have expressed confusion about whether the proposed drought charge recently announced by the City of Cape Town, would be levied on farms within the municipal limits.

Macadamia farmers in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal stand to gain from a major new export contract.

Tensions are reportedly running high in the Tarlton area in Gauteng, following the shooting of a farmworker on Saturday. The 43-year-old victim, whose identity has not yet been made public, had allegedly taken a tractor without the permission of the owner.

Johann Breytenbach, general manager for the Free State Umbrella Fire Protection Association, (FSUFPA) said that as yet, no one had been apprehended for starting a veld fire that destroyed nearly 70 000ha of grazing south of Boshof in the western Free State on 6 January.

There has been a spike in the number of malaria cases in Limpopo, with farmers reporting many cases of workers being affected.

The Australian minister of health, Greg Hunt, has announced plans to make that country the world’s number one exporter of medicinal cannabis, according to a report by Reuters.

Rwanda has banned imports of meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruit from South Africa as a result of the recent outbreak of the foodborne disease, listeria, across the country.

Exchange rate fluctuation will continue to play a determining role in the cost of food products in coming months.

Rainfall remained erratic in December, with some parts of South Africa continuing to experience below-average rainfall while others received more than 200% of the monthly average.

The ANC’s resolution to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation, taken in December, will lead to “economic suicide” for the country.