News

South Africans have until the end of August this year to declare any offshore assets. According to Wayne Sorour, head of Old Mutual International South Africa, there was a global move towards the Common Reporting Standards.

In the initial stages of the Western Cape’s 2016/17 plum harvesting and marketing season, concerns existed that an abundance of small-sized fruit, due to diminished groundwater levels, would undermine prices and profitability.

A farm in Japan has succeeded in producing a heart-shaped lemon. The product has become highly popular with restaurants and bakeries across Japan for Valentine's Day, reported Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese news outlet.

It was likely that some genetically modified (GM) maize was less susceptible to fall armyworms.

The Zimbabwean government compensated 12 white former commercial farmers in 2016, and registered only five 99-year leases for resettled growers over the past 17 years.

The well-known food and beverages group recently issued a statement to clarify the rationale behind its restructuring strategy first announced in late 2016.

It is the job of the media to allow the free flow of information, to remain impartial and to not allow information to affect us in any way that may lead to bias. But journalists are human too and every now and then I read something that just makes my blood boil.

Recent data from the South African Grain Information Services showed that the wheat import tariff has been revised to R1 190/t, 25% lower than the current level of R1 591/t.

On 9 February, President Jacob Zuma delivered the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Cape Town. While some agricultural stakeholders were impressed with Zuma’s commitment to the sector, others were equally unimpressed.

New Holland Agriculture, a division of CNH Industrial, will open a new branch office in Johannesburg at the beginning of May, to provide support to farmers in South Africa, as well as Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia.

The minimum wage of R20 per hour announced by vice-president Cyril Ramaphosa in parliament recently is not expected to have a marked effect on agriculture.

Despite a positive market sentiment, SA farmers are wary about buying new tractors.

Chicken farmers in the US state of Oklahoma sued poultry companies for allegedly sharing payment data with one another , in order to keep producer pay below competitive levels, news agency Bloomberg reported.

The annual ban on the direct movement of horses into the Western Cape’s African horse sickness (AHS) controlled zone came into effect on 1 February 2017, according to a Western Cape government statement.

Food prices in Kenya have increased by 12,54% when compared to 2016, which has led to a 7% increase in inflation, according to Fresh Plaza.

President Jacob Zuma will be presenting his State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2017 at 7pm on Thursday, 9 February. South African agriculture has faced a number of challenges in recent years, most notably the severe drought of which the after-effects are still being felt across much of the country.

The South African Apple and Pear Producers’ Organisation (SAAPPA) anticipates a normal pome fruit season despite drought conditions affecting certain production areas, according to a SAAPPA press release.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has announced that it will be approving products to be used against fall armyworm from this week.

The quality of poultry being exported from the EU to South Africa is the same quality as the poultry produced and sold in Europe, Bloomberg reported Marcus Cornaro, EU ambassador to SA, as saying.

A mobile application that acts as an information platform for South African smallholder farmers, has been launched by Vodacom, in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Manstrat Agricultural Intelligence Solutions.