News

Eskom’s latest plan to drastically elevate charges on fixed costs in the agriculture sector would only worsen the power utility company’s challenges and made no economic sense, Francois Wilken, Free State Agriculture (FSA) president, told Farmer’s Weekly.

Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis, a three-year-old Nelore cow from Brazil, valued at US$4 million (around R75 million), has been named by Guinness World Records as the most expensive cow ever sold at auction.

While the pork industry is showing optimism in terms of production and market growth, producers have been warned to pay more attention to animal welfare issues to maintain the positive growth.

The Namibian Directorate of Veterinary Services lifted its ban on poultry meat imports from South Africa on 20 May 2024.

In a unified effort to address environmental challenges, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment is calling on all South Africans to commemorate World Environment Day.

Heavy rains and gale-force winds caused destruction in some parts of the country, but brought welcome relief in other parts.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) revised Zimbabwe’s economic growth forecast for 2024 downward to 2%, a significant reduction of 1,6 percentage points from its previous projection.

A group of European farmers staged a protest in Brussels, Belgium, to demand the introduction of legislation to ban the sale of dairy products at prices below production costs.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in two districts in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed that there were currently two outbreaks in the Zululand and King Cetshwayo districts in the north of the province.

John Barker and Felicity Carter reflected on some of the major trends reshaping the wine industry at the recent South Africa Wine Summit held in Cape Town.

As South Africa heads to the polls on Wednesday, the dire state of the country is more in focus than ever as we mark 30 years of democracy. Front-of-mind for the agriculture community is whether the mounting pressure on creating a more enabling environment for the sector will be realised after the election.

The R250,000 paid for a 50% share in a Brahman bull named Buffel (JVZ20 321) by the Advantage Brahman Stud near Howick in KwaZulu-Natal makes sound economic sense, according to Jan van Zyl, owner of the Kroon Vee stud.

Due to declining demand, US farming machinery manufacturer Deere & Co has further reduced jobs as it prepares to ‘underproduce’ machinery in a challenging market.

Biosecurity on farms is in the spotlight once again after three farms in the Eastern Cape were placed under quarantine due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). This was confirmed by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development this week.

Farmer’s Weekly recently noticed some sneering social comments about the high price of sheepskin slippers advertised by a major pharmacy on Facebook. To understand why these slippers come at a premium price, we asked Louzel Steyn.

The African Development Fund (ADF) recently announced a R412,38 million grant to Malawi to help the country to reinforce agricultural productivity and climate resilience.

A plan to strengthen efforts to test for avian influenza and improve biosecurity on dairy farms has been launched by authorities in the US.

South Africa’s biggest agricultural show, the Nampo Harvest Day, ended on a high note on Friday, marking the highest attendance on record. Dirk Strydom, marketing lead for Nampo, said that it was also a particularly smooth-running event, pointing to the well-oiled machine that has become Nampo.

The upcoming National and Provincial elections on 29 May 2024 will most probably be more hotly contested than ever before, but at the same time the elections are triggering a great deal of questions, uncertainty, and instability across the country and across the voters poll.

If one does something for the right reason, it will have an impact and also ignite further action. A single act might look small on its own, but it has the ability to make a tremendous difference. This was the unanimous message during a panel discussion on empowering rural communities at Nampo Park in Bothaville.