South Africa

Tractor sales in South Africa recovered well in 2017 after a slump in 2016 due to the widespread drought, but the current political and economic climate could affect sales during the latter part of 2018.

All stakeholders in South Africa’s livestock production value chain must urgently put their heads together to re-strategise the country’s approach to tackling rampant stock theft.

Agri SA has requested an “urgent meeting” with the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, following the release of national crime statistics on Tuesday.

A study published in the journal Fire Ecology by a research team from Stellenbosch University, Nelson Mandela University, SANParks and the CSIR, shows that the invasion of surrounding land by invasive pine trees significantly increased the severity of the 2017 Knysna wildfires.

A large group of farmers and members of Agri SA, met ANC delegates in Pretoria on Friday to voice their concerns about the expropriation of land without compensation.

With data on agricultural production being both dated and skewed towards higher-end commercial agriculture, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Statistics South Africa have launched a campaign to gather more information about smallholder farmers in the country.

Five containers of imported table eggs have been recalled by South Africa's Agency for Food Safety and Quality (AFSQ).

South Africa has entered a recession for the first time since the global economic meltdown of 2008/2009, with the agriculture sector the main contributor to the overall GDP decline measured in the second quarter (Q2).

The African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries needed to collaborate to build on AFASA’s work to support black farmers in accessing markets, land, water and energy.

The women of Sutherland in the Karoo have come up with an innovative way to raise funds to alleviate the plight of the drought-stricken farmers in the district.

Gift of the Givers, Boere in Nood, and Save the Sheep Sutherland have joined forces to procure fodder for 34 drought-stricken districts in the Karoo and southern Cape, where some farms have received hardly any rain over the past four years.

The Crop Estimate’s Committee (CEC) has left its forecast for maize unchanged but expects South Africa’s wheat production to increase by nearly 18% from last season’s harvest.

Blueberry production in South Africa is increasing at a faster rate than previously anticipated, according to a recent Absa Agribusiness Outlook report.

The recent lifting of an 11-year ban on imports of avocados from Kenya is not expected to negatively impact South Africa’s avocado industry.

The grain industry must be concerned about possible endocrine-disruptive chemicals in pesticides and insecticides, says Prof Riana Bornman from the department of urology at the University of Pretoria.

The ongoing heatwaves in Russia, Australia and the EU are bound to negatively affect wheat production in those countries.

Commercial farming will not be disrupted, land grabs will not be tolerated and food security will not be jeopardised by the ANC’s campaign to accelerate land reform.

A representative for organised agriculture who attended one of two meetings with top-level ANC officials said the engagement was critical in light of the current vacuum in which uncertainty was prevailing.

South Africa’s recent ban on imports of non-irradiated honey from Zambia has been described as a “good thing” by the chairperson of the SA Bee Industry Organisation (SABIO), Mike Miles.

Representatives from Agri SA and Agbiz were scheduled to meet with top ANC officials on Tuesday, 21 August, in what has been termed a series of many meetings yet to come.