South Africa

South Africa’s agricultural machinery sales have continued their negative trend in comparison with the first two months of last year.

The number of participants in Grain SA’s Farmer Development Programme in the Eastern Cape is growing every year, with 3 581 smallholder grain producers in the province currently participating in the programme.

The Glen College of Agriculture near Bloemfontein has welcomed the first group of students to register for a 12-month diploma access programme at its newly launched Recognition of Prior Learning Centre.

Egg contamination and antibiotic-free production in hatcheries were in the spotlight at the Ceva South Africa Poultry Summit held in Rustenburg on Wednesday and Thursday.

A fruit farm and wedding venue, Marlenique Estate, near Franschhoek, has introduced the first commercially operated floating solar system on the African continent.

Grain SA (GSA) recently announced that it will dedicate R5 million to serve as collateral to help black potential commercial farmers unlock financing.

The Distell Group has declared an interim gross cash dividend of R1,74/share for the period ending 31 December 2018, which is a 5,5% increase on the previous accounting period.

A new organisation aimed at protecting and promoting the rights, values, ideals and needs of family farmers in the primary production sector in South Africa was officially launched in Pretoria on Thursday.

While there is currently little evidence of price pressure compared with a year ago, supermarket chain Shoprite has warned that food prices could increase over the next few months.

Although recent drought conditions have had a significant negative impact on South Africa’s 2018/2019 summer crop production, the lack of rain could have resulted...

South Africa set a new record for the amount of frozen broiler meat that was brought into the country last year, importing R6 billion worth of chicken.

The South African wine and brandy industry has welcomed the inflationary increase in excise duties announced by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in the 2019/2020 National Budget Speech on Wednesday.

Only 19 200ha had been planted to peanuts in the 2018/2019 production season, which is the smallest area on record, according to Grain SA head economist, Luan van der Walt.

South Africa is not immune to events in the global economy and the expected slowdown in world economic growth will constrain the country’s export growth forecast, leading to a weaker economic outlook.

The allocation from National Treasury to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) will decrease from just under R11 billion in 2019/2020 to R10,67 billion in the 2020/21 fiscal year, before increasing again to R11,35 million in 2021/2022, according to the Estimates of National Expenditure that was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday along with the 2019 budget by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

The national budget for the 2019/2020 fiscal year, which was tabled by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in Parliament on Wednesday, represented, according to the minister, a financial and spending plan for South Africa that was “in the interest of our people and our country, and not in the narrow objectives of any political party”.

While the 25% decline in rhino poaching incidences in South Africa between 2017 and 2018 should be cause for celebration, some are calling into question the accuracy of these latest figures.

Timeous and effective government assistance for South Africa’s farmers to survive ongoing drought conditions is one of the key aspects that major agricultural organisations are hoping will be highlighted in Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s 2019/2020 National Budget Speech on Wednesday.

Organised agricultural organisations have expressed serious concern that any further load-shedding carried out by Eskom during important production periods could negatively impact the profitably of farmers and the affordability of food for South Africans.

The recent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Limpopo, and the subsequent loss of South Africa's FMD-free status, has had a major impact on South Africa’s hide and skin industry.