News

With yet another fuel price hike on the horizon for March, the potential impact on the already under-pressure agriculture sector raises concerns about heightened production costs, reduced profit margins, and potential ripple effects on food prices for consumers.

The National Council for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (NSPCA) has called for a complete ban of livestock exports via sea following the discovery of the abhorrent condition in which animals were kept on the Al Kuwait, which docked in Cape Town last week to load feed on its way from Brazil to Iraq.

Zambia is mobilising US$22 million (about R415 million) to set up a veterinary medicine production plant to help mitigate the high rate of cattle and other animal fatalities that have affected local farms.

In a strategic move to strengthen South Africa’s citrus export capabilities, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has revealed plans for an additional direct cargo service from the port of Ngqura to northern Europe.

The chickens have come home to roost for government who has seen a large decrease in tax income as a result of the malfunctioning of state-owned enterprises like Eskom and Transnet.

The South African government has to date spent R25 billion to settle land claims. Hectares bought and transferred to land claimants equate to 3,9 million.

Pig farmers have been advised to strengthen biosecurity measures to protect their pigs against African swine fever.

The macadamia nut industry is entering a recovery phase as low prices stimulate demand and value-adding. Over the last two years, the crop fetched significantly lower prices as world economies took a downturn after the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The Competition Commission has launched a market inquiry into the poultry industry value chain to determine whether there are any market features that impede, restrict or distort competition.

With another potentially massive fuel price increase on the cards for the country in March, South Africa’s poor agricultural machinery sales may be set to continue into the year.

Fruit farmers in British Columbia in Canada are calling for government assistance to survive after entire crops of fruit such as peaches, plums, cherries and nectarines were wiped out.

Opening the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s (DALLRD) joint conference that was held recently at the ARC Roodeplaat, agriculture minister Thoko Didiza said that this event was celebrating and showcasing the innovative work of researchers at the ARC and government.

A shift from wheat quality to wheat yields in the approval of new varieties promises to increase yields by up to 5%, according to Corné Louw, senior economist at Grain SA.

World Pulses Day on 10 February is of particular importance this year as the food sector the world over seeks solutions to improve soil health and increase food security.

Eskom said on Sunday (4 February) that it had experienced a major network fault as gale-force winds and downpours caused extensive damaged to the Laingsburg/Touwsrivier 132kV power lines, affecting several Western Cape towns in the Central Karoo, Garden Route and Overberg regions.

Opposition parties and agricultural role players feel that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was out of touch with reality and used as a tool to raise votes.

The Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor in the US has indicated that agricultural economists agree Brazil will remain the world’s top exporter of soya bean in the 2023/24 season.

Black rhinos in Kenya were on the brink of extinction three decades ago, but their numbers have since quadrupled from 240 in 1984 to 966 in 2024.

Labour costs are set to rise by 8,5% from 1 March 2024. The 3% above-inflation increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will see hourly rates jump from R25,42 to R27,58, prompting concern across labour-reliant industries about whether they will be able to maintain employment rates.

Despite the South African government acquiring 432 038ha of land in the Free State under various land reform redistribution programmes since 1994, at a cost of R1 881 billion to the tax payer, this land was not being used for commercial food production. This was according to Dr Roy Jankielsohn, the DA’s caucus leader in the Free State.