South Africa

Reactions to the Rural Safety Summit recently hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Pretoria have ranged from optimism to disillusion.

The ministerial task team appointed to assess the state of governance in North West has reported to Parliament that R413 million in irregular expenditure in the province could be attributed to contracts with the farming consulting company AgriDelight.

The current land reform process should be placed on hold and a new process started with the goal of preparing a new White Paper on land reform, which would set out new guiding policies and legislation, according to Prof Ben Cousins of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

A cold front expected to make landfall in the Western Cape this week has been forecast to bring cold, wet, windy weather that could be devastating to livestock, especially small stock.

To contextualise the welfare forgone by South Africans during the past decade in terms of GDP, based on income and jobs lost, it is estimated that the economy would have been R1 trillion bigger if the country did not experience the political dysfunction of the Zuma era, according to Goolam Ballim, chief economist and head of research at the Standard Bank Group.

The 501 tractors sold nationwide during May 2018 were well above Agbiz’s forecast of 444 units. Agbiz reported that, in hindsight, the above-anticipated tractor sales were unsurprising given that May was a busy month with winter crops planting underway across much of South Africa.

Initial indications are that the citrus industry in the Eastern Cape lost at least R50 million to labour unrest and consequent damage to packing facilities and infrastructure, according to Hannes de Waal, chairman of the Citrus Producers’ Forum in the Sunday's River Valley.

Co-operatives could be a magic wand for smallholders, said the president of the World Farmers’ Organisation, Dr Theo de Jager.

The latest 87c/ℓ increase in the wholesale price of diesel will have a significant knock-on effect on the South African grain value chain, according to Corné Louw, a senior economist at Grain SA.

A drop of more than 24% in the output of agriculture, forestry and fisheries was the main contributor to a 2,2% quarter-on-quarter decrease in South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to Statistics SA.

In its current form, Section 25 of the South African Constitution does not pose an obstacle to successful land reform.

The Southern African Macadamia Growers’ Association’s (SAMAC) 2018 yield forecast is 20% higher than last year, which totalled 44 610t, This is according to Barry Christie, SAMAC’s operations manager.

‘Approaching potato farming as a successful business venture’ is the theme for the 5th Potatoes South Africa Transformation Symposium taking place on 7 June 2018 at the Saint George Hotel in Gauteng.

An outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) has been reported in the Springbok area of the Northern Cape, according to a statement by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF).

An analysis of the South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics on farm murders and attacks shows farm murders are at its lowest level since 1996, with farm attacks increasing since 2012/13, says Agri SA.

The Woolworths Farming for the Future programme, which was established in 2011 with 14 farmer members, has shown a significant increase, with 196 farmers currently participating in the programme, according to Feroz Koor, group head of sustainability at the retailer, speaking at the Africa Shared Value Summit in Johannesburg recently.

The effects of a violent hailstorm in the Lowveld on 27 May will be felt by fruit and macadamia farmers for a long time to come, according to Barend van Rensburg, Agri Mpumalanga representative in the Nelspruit area.

Dapples, marble, spots and streaks were the order of the day at the recent indigenous veld goat (IVG) regional auction in Bloemfontein.

Farmers in Mpumalanga’s Onderberg region are still assessing the damage after the devastating hail storm that hit Malelane, Komatipoort and the southern part of the Kruger National Park on Sunday night (27 May).

Congratulations to George Nicholas, who is celebrating his 100th birthday today! George has 72 years of service to the agricultural industry in South Africa.