News

Wine export volumes have declined by 5%, from 388.1 million in 2021 to 368,8 million litres in 2022, while export value dropped by 2,4%, from R10,2 billion to R9,9 billion, according to the recently released Wines of South Africa Export Report 2022.

The declining Energy Availability Factor of Eskom’s fleet reflected the cumulative impact of historical underinvestment in maintenance and assets, exacerbated by flaws in the design of new power stations in the last decade, according to an announcement by the South African National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM).

Soil moisture levels in those regions of Brazil where coffee and sugar cane are produced are currently at their highest levels in seven years, according to data from Refinitiv, an American-British global provider of financial market data.

Farmers in the Northern Cape, where a devastating drought has prevailed since 2011, are still in dire straits, despite the rainfall that occurred recently in some parts of the region.

Zimbabwe is making strides towards self-sufficiency in raw milk production, according to that country’s Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Dr John Basera.

South Africa’s largest tobacco manufacturer, British American Tobacco (BAT), has entered into a process of restructuring, because of an “explosion in illicit tobacco sales” following the ban on cigarette sales during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in 2020.

South Africa’s agriculture sector is on the cusp of a devastating catastrophe because of the country’s inability to provide sufficient electricity to keep the wheels of the agricultural value chain rolling.

As the world moves firmly into 2023, a level of market volatility that has not been seen in years is creating uncertainty with regard to global grain supplies.

Even as South Africa’s potato industry feels the weight of adverse production conditions, high input costs and rolling blackouts, producers have reason for optimism.

While the sugar industry anticipates harvesting a similar volume of sugar cane as the average of the past five years, any increase in the Health Promotion Levy (HPL), or sugar tax, would result in severe damage to the struggling industry.

South Africa’s commercial pig sector aims to grow its market share throughout 2023 by improving consumer awareness, while simultaneously boosting sustainability in terms of production.

The poaching of endemic succulent species in South Africa presents a very serious threat that can lead to many species becoming extinct, including those in the Hoodia, Conophytum and Euphorbia genera.

Zimbabwe imported significantly less maize in 2022 when compared with 2021, according to the most recent statistics released by the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (ZimStat).

While the confidence of US farmers in the local agricultural economy is at its highest level in 16 months, farmers are somewhat uncertain of what the 2023/24 season holds, according to the latest monthly Ag Economy Barometer report by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

South African farmers “need to take a serious look at the sustainability and recyclability of their fresh produce packaging if they want to take advantage of emerging market opportunities around the world”.

The drop in South Africa’s fuel prices, which came into effect on Wednesday (4 January), is a positive development that will lower agricultural production costs.

A total of 3 864 farms were sold in South Africa between January and October 2022, a significant increase from the 3 133 over the same period in 2021, according to Johann Bornman, chairperson of Agri Development Solutions.

The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) expects volumes of table grapes for exporting to decrease by almost 8% in the 2022/23 season, down from the previous season’s 77,7 million 4,5kg-equivalent cartons to about 71,7 million.

Consumers’ focus on healthy living was helping to drive growing global demand for olive oil, according to Vittoria Jooste, CEO of the South African Olive Association.

This year has been the South African wool industry’s most challenging time in two-and-a-half decades, according to Leon de Beer, general manager of the National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA).