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Farmers under financial pressure should avoid delaying machinery upgrades to the point where productivity and profitability start slipping, says Antois van der Westhuizen, managing director of John Deere Financial for Africa and the Middle East.

Despite strong commitment, transformation in the grain industry has been slow. There are several reasons for this, one of which is that agriculture is capital-intensive, making it difficult for new entrants and small-scale farmers to compete.

Anyone walking through exhibition stands at NAMPO quickly sees that agriculture is a sector build on innovation and technology. Across the value chain, innovation is changing how crops are grown, marketed, and processed, underscoring the need for training and skills development that match the demands of today and the future.

Nampo Harvest Day 2026 opened with strong discussions around profitability, competitiveness and resilience in agriculture, even as visitor numbers were lower than the first day of last year’s show.

At a media event hosted on the eve of Nampo 2026 at the Syngenta Boerekos Plaaskombuis at Nampo Park in Bothaville, Free State, Luc Henry, business area head of Syngenta South Africa, said South Africa’s regulatory data protection legislation is significantly out of line with global norms.

From spare-wheel solutions to livestock recovery aids, entrants in this year’s Nampo Boereplanne competition impressed judges with practical innovations shaped by real challenges on farms across Southern Africa.

Oilseed and grain farmers across South Africa are under pressure to remain profitable amid volatile markets, climate variability, and rising input costs. Farmer’s Weekly spoke to producers at Nampo 2026 about opportunities for growth and how they’re staying afloat.

Visitors to Nampo Harvest Day 2026 faced heavy traffic congestion on Wednesday morning, with some reporting delays of up to three hours before reaching the showgrounds.

South Africa’s 2025/26 canning fruit intake declined across all major categories due to hot weather, a February hailstorm, and limited intake by Langeberg Foods, according to Jacques Jordaan, CEO of the Canning Fruit Producers’ Association.

The Zimbabwean government announced last week that it will return 67 farms seized from foreign nationals from four European countries, whose investments are protected under bilateral agreements.

An intense cold front, accompanied by an Orange Level 8 warning from the South African Weather Service, caused widespread damage in some Western Cape farming areas over the past few days.

South Africa’s agriculture sector must make biosecurity part of daily farming operations and long-term planning, not just a crisis response, industry leaders warned during a media briefing at Nampo Harvest Day 2026, saying recurring disease outbreaks threaten exports, food security, and farm profitability.

South African farmers are facing one of the toughest operating environments in recent years. Industry leaders at Nampo Harvest Day 2026 urged producers not to lose hope but instead use the platform to find practical solutions to improve efficiencies to keep businesses sustainable.

During this morning’s Nation in Conversation discussion at Nampo 2026, the focus fell on the economic realities farmers have to deal with while farming.

With farming margins under pressure and input costs continuing to climb, producers are urged to take a more calculated approach to mechanisation decisions, focusing on profitability, utilisation, and long-term sustainability rather than simply buying the biggest or latest machine available.

The theme of this year’s Nampo Harvest Day, ‘Resilience through Innovation’, aims to encourage the entire agriculture sector to not only reflect on the challenges farmers currently face but also to find proactive, data-driven solutions focused on profitability and sustainability.

Farmers who have experienced livestock theft are invited to participate in a wide-ranging study exploring the impact and implications of stock theft and farm animal mutilation, as well as their experiences with the criminal justice system.

While breed societies usually showcase live cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs at Nampo Harvest Day, this year they are preparing for a very different exhibition in light of the restrictions on cloven-hoofed animals due to the nationwide foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.

As South Africa’s wheat farmers head into the 2026/27 winter crop season, higher fuel and fertiliser costs, weaker global wheat prices, and uncertain weather conditions are expected to weigh on plantings, potentially pushing them to a 12-year low.

The confirmation that two vaccinated dairy herds in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have contracted foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has intensified criticism of South Africa’s vaccination strategy and underscored the vulnerability of the dairy industry.