South Africa

The SA Olive Awards, which is currently in its eighth year, has received a record number of entries for 2013.

White farmers have to take responsibility for educating the media on what they do, especially the black media, Agang’s head of communications Thabo Leshilo told the recent FSA Congress.

The fact that nationwide harvesting of 2012/2013 summer grain crops is nearly complete was reflected in the 53,1% drop in July 2013 combine harvester sales in comparison to July 2012 sales.

In two separate incidents over two consecutive days police in the Newcastle and Ladysmith areas of KwaZulu-Natal arrested five stock theft suspects, recovered a total of 14 allegedly stolen cattle and impounded a truck believed to have been used in one of the crimes.

Over the next decade, SA consumers will continue to increase their consumption of animal protein and dairy products. Meat consumption increases, especially in the case of pork and chicken, will continue to outpace the local production growth.

Although international milk prices have soared recently, local prices have remained unchanged and would probably stay that way until the end of the year.

The invasive pantropical blue tick, a parasite linked to cattle fever or babesiosis, was recently detected in Namibia.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) has been formulating legislation to make it easier for farmers on communal land to access finance from commercial banks.

Elephant poachers in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip are thought to have deliberately poisoned an estimated 600 vultures, although the fallout from the incident could be as high as 1 000 birds.

Dairy farmers and investors who leased dairy cattle to a farmer in Koppies in the Free State have been dealt a serious financial blow with the mysterious disappearance of their cattle.

South Africa’s economy is not growing fast enough to stem the growing tide of unemployment. The ‘new normal’ for the country is 2,5% to 3,5% of GDP growth per year.

Irrigation farmers along the Vaal River could soon face water restrictions as demand is increasing. If restrictions were to be imposed, farmers would be first in line to bear the brunt.

Parties responsible for the killing of 48 Cape Griffon vultures and one African white-backed vulture should be punished, said Griffon Poison Information Centre director Dr Gerhard Verdoorn.

Over the next 10 to 20 years farmers can expect narrower profit margins compared to the past five years, with fierce competition among local and international players.

Agriculture is such a complex industry that one ministry has difficulty co-ordinating all the functions involved.

The Risks in Agriculture Summit to be held from 26 to 27 November 2013 in Accra, Ghana, hopes to provide a platform for high level discussions for delegates involved in the growth, trade, transportation, storage and processing of cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm oil and rubber in the West African Region.

Up to a quarter of Madagascar’s food crops have been destroyed by a locust plague raging since last year.

DuPont Pioneer and Pannar Seed announced the conclusion of the transaction in which Pioneer has acquired a majority share in Pannar earlier today.

Schalk Burger, previously the manager for market development at Old Mutual’s agriculture department, died of heart attack on Monday.

Farmers targeted by grain thieves are losing up to R2/t of grain delivered at silos or mills.