News

Landowners in South Africa’s winter fire areas should be prepared for what is expected to be a difficult 2017 season.

Potatoes are the fastest-moving commodity in the Easter Cape’s OR Tambo district, said Ikhona Mvaphantsi, Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) spokesperson.

DNA results have confirmed that the remains found in a crocodile in Zimbabwe were those of professional hunter, Scott van Zyl (44).

Nearly 1 000 people from 60 different countries are expected to attend the nut and dried fruit industry’s major event of the year.

It is expected that South Africa will regain its status as a net exporter of maize with the second biggest maize crop on record since 1980, forecast for this season.

South Africa’s researchers are taking the World Veterinary Day theme, “Antimicrobial resistance – from awareness to action”, seriously.

This year’s Agri Western Cape Santam Agriculture Young Farmer of the Year competition finalists have been announced and competition, it seems, is tough.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Southern Africa (FAOSA) is hosting a two-day meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the region’s response to fall armyworm (FAW). The meeting closes tomorrow, 26 April.

Zimbabwe’s Cold Storage Company (CSC) is set to be capitalised.

The fact that the South Devon breed flourishes under the extensive South African conditions underscores its hardiness and adaptability.

The Land Bank has announced plans to allocate about R3 billion to the agricultural sector during the 2017/2018 financial year.

In a recent press statement, the EU denied that it was dumping chicken onto the South African market and that its poultry exports to South Africa was negatively affecting the industry.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has extended the deadline for public comment on the draft Regulation of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill 2017 and the Explanatory Memorandum.

An expected fuel price hike will have a negative effect on the agri sector, as it will coincide with summer crop harvests, says Wandile Sihlobo, head of economic and agribusiness research at the Agricultural Business Chamber (AgBiz).

Labour minister, Mildred Oliphant, will be visiting KwaZulu-Natal farms on Friday, 21 April, to ensure that employers are complying with the country’s labour laws.

Fynbos species diversity has declined due to increasingly longer hot, dry summers, affecting particularly species that sprout and germinate after the season’s fires.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural Applewood Harvest Festival, hosted by Applewood Preparatory School in Grabouw in the Western Cape, Tru-Cape will again sponsor the running challenges associated with the harvest festival, the Tru-Cape Applewood Trail Run and the Tru-Cape Grabouw MTB.

The national March 2017 combine harvester sales of 23 units were 64,3% up on the 14 units sold year-on-year (y/y). This was a reflection of positive prospects for what was likely to be the second-biggest South African summer crops harvest since the 1980/81 season.

Visitors will be offered an opportunity to meet with some of the world's leading agricultural companies, and network with agricultural professionals as well as government and union officials at the Zambia Agritech Expo held from 27-29 April, in Chisamba.

Agri Eastern Cape president Douglas Stern, has appealed to farmers to continue with what they know best, even under the current extremely trying times…