Clarity on BEE agricultural produce export rules
Various articles were published in the media over the past week that made it sound as if government had published “new rules” in the Government Gazette that would force farmers to meet black economic empowerment (BEE) requirements to continue exports to Europe.
Farmers optimistic about wine grape harvest
In spite of the limiting impact of the ever-decreasing national vineyard surface area, isolated cases of frost and extensive flood damage in some regions, the wine industry is optimistic about the new season’s potential, according to Rico Basson, CEO of South African Wine.
More warthogs must be culled, say sheep farmers
Sheep farmers are at their wits end as damage caused by warthogs is threatening their livelihoods.
‘Blanket rebate on chicken imports could do more harm than good’
The South African Poultry Association (SA Poultry) recently voiced its concern over a suggested temporary rebate provision on broiler meat.
Encouraging successes achieved in tackling stock theft
Free State Agriculture (FSA), in collaboration with LGV’s PSiRA-registered Private Stock Theft Investigators, has retrieved more than a million rands’ worth of livestock since FSA announced its Private Livestock Theft Investigators initiative four months ago. Fourteen arrests in six cases of stock theft followed.
Many KZN farmers receive permits to cultivate cannabis
More than 600 KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) cannabis and hemp farmers were granted permits to cultivate, store and transport the product with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of not more than 0,2%.
Mid-Term Budget blues: We don’t have money, says Godongwana
The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) brought little good news when it was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
Wet and cold conditions hit large parts of South Africa
The South African Weather Service (Weather SA) has advised farmers to keep their animals safe from the bitter cold, wet and windy conditions that started on Saturday and are expected to last until Wednesday in parts of the Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo and Northern Cape.
Government will not compensate poultry farmers for losses
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development does not have funds to compensate farmers for their losses as a result of the deadly avian influenza outbreak across South Africa, according to the department's chief director Dipepeneneng Serage, who was responding to questions posed by the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development this week.
Rabbits dying en masse as RHDV sweeps SA
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) continues to sweep through South Africa, with the latest wave annihilating colonies in Gauteng.
Food inflation continues its upward trend
Whereas inflation is slowing in many countries, the depreciation of the rand, high fuel costs and load-shedding are keeping it high in South Africa.
World-record price for SA Nguni bull
In a historic moment, the Nguni bull, T16 232, was recently sold for a world-record price of R570 000 at the Sentrale Nguni Club’s 29th auction held on the farm Middelwater near Bloemfontein.
