News

In two separate incidents over two consecutive days police in the Newcastle and Ladysmith areas of KwaZulu-Natal arrested five stock theft suspects, recovered a total of 14 allegedly stolen cattle and impounded a truck believed to have been used in one of the crimes.

Over the next decade, SA consumers will continue to increase their consumption of animal protein and dairy products. Meat consumption increases, especially in the case of pork and chicken, will continue to outpace the local production growth.

Although international milk prices have soared recently, local prices have remained unchanged and would probably stay that way until the end of the year.

The invasive pantropical blue tick, a parasite linked to cattle fever or babesiosis, was recently detected in Namibia.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) has been formulating legislation to make it easier for farmers on communal land to access finance from commercial banks.

A push-to-talk app can reduce your cellphone bill significantly, says Greg Miles.

Elephant poachers in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip are thought to have deliberately poisoned an estimated 600 vultures, although the fallout from the incident could be as high as 1 000 birds.

Dairy farmers and investors who leased dairy cattle to a farmer in Koppies in the Free State have been dealt a serious financial blow with the mysterious disappearance of their cattle.

The annual Pietermaritzburg Royal Show is used by many distributors as an opportunity to introduce new machines and implements. Joe Spencer reports.

Many government projects are excellent ideas. But officials seem incapable of carrying them out.

Derby The Fonteine Boran auction was held on 25 May. Francois Smit of Fonteine Borans sold the top-priced bull FN 06 068 to Conrad Coetzer of Rankin Operations Pretoria for R170 000.

Graaff Reinet 52 Stud and 108 commercial Nguni cattle were offered for sale at the annual Karoo Nguni Club Auction.

Google has ‘mapped’ almost every town on the planet, says Greg Miles.

The Royal Show, which opens the week after Nampo, invariably seems to have a selection of quite different equipment. Joe Spencer reports.

South Africa’s economy is not growing fast enough to stem the growing tide of unemployment. The ‘new normal’ for the country is 2,5% to 3,5% of GDP growth per year.

Irrigation farmers along the Vaal River could soon face water restrictions as demand is increasing. If restrictions were to be imposed, farmers would be first in line to bear the brunt.

Parties responsible for the killing of 48 Cape Griffon vultures and one African white-backed vulture should be punished, said Griffon Poison Information Centre director Dr Gerhard Verdoorn.

Over the next 10 to 20 years farmers can expect narrower profit margins compared to the past five years, with fierce competition among local and international players.

Agriculture is such a complex industry that one ministry has difficulty co-ordinating all the functions involved.

The Risks in Agriculture Summit to be held from 26 to 27 November 2013 in Accra, Ghana, hopes to provide a platform for high level discussions for delegates involved in the growth, trade, transportation, storage and processing of cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm oil and rubber in the West African Region.