South Africa

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) does not have the money to implement the suggestions in the Green Paper on Land Reform.

A two weeks strike action at six agricultural companies and co-ops has ended with compromise being reached between strikers and their employers.

Lindi van Rooyen, Johannesburg-based reporter for Farmer’s Weekly, has been named one of 10 Young Leaders in agricultural writing.

The deliberations are over, and South African seed breeder Pannar Seed and its US counterpart Pioneer Hi-Bred wait to hear whether their attempt to convince the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) to allow a merger between the two companies has been successful.

Copper theft continues to escalate, with the value of copper stolen in February estimated at R22,8 million according to a statement by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci).

A Mpumalanga farmer has triumphed over a coal mine in a precedent setting case. The court victory was seen as a warning to mines who don’t comply with the National Environmental Management Act (Nema).

Growth within the game industry is being hampered by a weaker US dollar and an undeveloped meat market.

Mohair prices improved at the third sale of the summer season, despite fears that the larger than normal offering of 188 150kg would dampen competition.

The leadership of TAU SA recently approached the minister of the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, (DAFF) Tina Joemat-Petterson to discuss the development of an agricultural training centre outside of Cullinan.

Agri Wes Cape is concerned that a statement released by the Department of Labour (DoL) about recent inspections conducted on farms in the Paarl area might be a deliberate attempt to create a false impression about the state of working and living conditions on farms in the province.

Current agricultural and land reform policies are not workable and fair, and sometimes don’t make any sense.

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said it is engaging with different national governments to find solutions to rhino poaching, which has already seen 150 rhinos killed illegally since the beginning of the year.

Sporadic rain over the summer rainfall region of South Africa resulted in pockets of drought in virtually every district in the area.

The decline in rhino numbers is a direct result of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species’ (Cites) ban on rhino horn trade, according to Dr Herman Els, manager of Hunting and Conservation at the SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association (SAHGCA).

An Avian Wind Farm Sensitivity Map has been welcomed by South Africa’s Wind Energy Association.

Trade union, Solidarity, has puts its support behind efforts to have farm attacks and farm murders declared a priuorty crime.

The South African forestry sector wants labour productivity to be commensurate with new minimum wages.

The Grain Handling Organisation of Southern Africa’s (GOSA) members handled 10,4 million tons of maize in 2011, of which 1,8 million tons were exported to Mexico, Italy, Korea, Venezuela, Kuwait, Iran, Japan, Madagascar and Taiwan.

Renecker’s Palace Hillside Elk Farm of Canada, along with an investment group of about five game ranchers in Namibia, and US-based Indian Gally International, recently opened a game ranch and meat processing plant in Gobabis in eastern Namibia.

“It should not be necessary to change the Constitution to solve land reform problems,” said Roelf Meyer, guest speaker at the launch of the Bien Donné Agri Cape Week in Paarl.