News

The annual scourge of veldfires was continuing in the Free State, with numerous major and widespread fires actively burning on Sunday night in the areas of Smithfield and Reddersburg, as well Steynsrus and Ventersburg, among others.

Further restrictions on rice exports recently announced by India, including a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice, have triggered fears that it will further exacerbate global food inflation.

The Competition Commission has approved the sale of meat supplier Tomis Group to retailer Pick n Pay. The acquisition is expected to have little effect on the industry or prices for livestock.

One of South Africa's largest poultry producers, Rainbow Chicken, marked its 60th anniversary by opening a new plant in Hammarsdale near Durban on Monday. This signals the intention to bring Rainbow’s production volumes back to pre-2017 levels and return the plant facility to full operating capacity.

Blueberry producers internationally are consolidating and using new technologies and genetics to survive the price cost squeeze, according to the recently released Global State of the Blueberry Industry Report 2023.

Free State Agriculture (FSA) urgently called on members of the public for donations of animal feed after the past weekend’s devastating veldfires in which, among others, 300 sheep and 18 in-calf cows succumbed to the flames on a farm near Winnie Mandela (previously Brandfort).

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK has announced the resumption of UK sheep embryos exports to the US.

Employment in the agriculture sector is up, but a proposed increase in the national minimum wage could limit further growth.

South Africa’s avocado and beef industries are set to receive a boost through market access to China, as announced during the 15th BRICS Summit, currently being held in South Africa.

Civil rights organisation AfriForum has strongly criticised the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) recent statistics on farm murders, saying they were incorrect.

The impact of climate change on the agriculture sector will be compounded by the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, if not managed properly.

Contraceptives are now being successfully used to prevent elephant overpopulation in South Africa. Approximately 75% of all breeding-age female elephants outside of the greater Kruger National Park had been successfully treated with immunocontraceptives in 47 reserves to prevent overpopulation.

Greater usage of drones for chemical applications on farms is being hindered by a lack of progress on product label specifications.

Staple food prices continue to rise placing pressure on higher-end produce like avocados. Compared with the same period last year, potatoes were trading 77% higher, with carrots trading 6% higher.

Public hearings on the newly proposed Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill are currently underway in Gauteng.

The conflict and political unrest in Sudan have opened up an additional export market for red meat from Namibia in the Middle East. This was according to a statement by the Namibian Meat Board following a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar.

Zimbabwe had so far stocked 37 dams with fish countrywide as part of its multi-million-rand aquaculture programme that was announced in 2022.

An 18% decline in maize prices has been reported in the US during July on the back of forecasts that this year’s harvest will be the second-largest on record at an estimated 15,13 billion bushels (about 384 million tons), according to Reuters.

First, it was false codling moth, and now the EU using citrus black spot (CBS) as an excuse to block citrus exports from South Africa.

While the contribution of women to economic activity is substantial the world over, it is by and large undervalued.