Speaking at Nampo, Johann Kotzé, CEO of AgriSA, told Farmer’s Weekly that farmers should approach the difficult season pragmatically rather than emotionally.
“In a difficult year, you look differently at the farm. Farmers need to ask themselves how they can be more effective, be it changing to crops like sunflowers that require less fertiliser, or reducing plant stand to reduce inputs. Adaptability is critical in the current climate.”
Kotzé said that despite the challenges, he did not perceive farmers as being negative about the future of agriculture, but that they were actively searching for workable solutions to survive mounting pressures. He described Nampo as an important platform where producers, suppliers, financiers and advisers could gather information needed to make the informed decisions that were now needed to keep farming businesses viable.
Kotzé acknowledged that many farmers were under immense pressure due to disease outbreaks, rising costs and volatile commodity markets. His biggest concern, however, was the emotional toll on producers.
“The biggest risk facing food production is farmers that have lost all hope and given up. When farmers lose hope, we as a nation have everything to lose.”
He urged farmers to turn their attention to supporting each other, and warned against allowing frustration and conflict to distract the sector from solving problems, particularly in the fight against foot-and-mouth disease.
“We have to support each other, criticise where necessary, and see what can be done better.”
Meanwhile, Brendan Jacobs, head of agribusiness at Standard Bank South Africa, echoed the call for calm and careful planning amid tightening margins caused by lower commodity prices, rising fuel costs and global uncertainty.
He told Farmer’s Weekly that despite mounting pressure on farm profitability, farmers should avoid making panic-driven decisions and instead focus on practical efficiencies and early engagement with financial partners to navigate the difficult season ahead.
“Margins are under pressure, and the conflict in the Middle East is further intensifying concerns around fuel and fertiliser costs. We’ve got quite a bit of uncertainty at the moment around how long this is going to last and how big the impact is going to be. But open communication with financial partners is key to avoid knee-jerk or delayed reactions,” Jacobs said.
Despite the challenges, both leaders emphasised that resilience and hope remained agriculture’s most valuable assets. “Hope is the biggest asset we have in agriculture, and we can’t lose it,” Kotzé said.
