South Africa

It has been more than a year since Grain SA and the South African Cereals and Oilseeds Trade Association formally requested a revision of the wheat import tariff formula.

High volumes of fresh produce have coincided with cash-strapped consumers, bringing a halt to festive season pricing. Farmers are therefore unlikely to see the higher prices for their produce that are typical at this time of year.

Farmers across South Africa’s Highveld region are being urged to look out for a fast-spreading poisonous shrub called Cestrum parqui, which has already caused cattle deaths in several areas.

At the Agbiz Media Day held recently in Pretoria, Thapelo Machaba, Agbiz agricultural economist and policy analyst, outlined a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring the local agricultural value chain becomes more inclusive, competitive, and aligned with global workplace expectations.

At the Agbiz Media Day 2025 held in Pretoria on 5 December, Agbiz CEO Theo Boshoff said the policy environment in 2025 had delivered “more positive outcomes than challenges”, despite several issues early in the year that dominated public debate.

Agribusiness group Senwes reported a solid recovery in its interim results for the six months to end-October 2025, with profit after tax up by 34,5% to R325 million after a stronger production season and improved performance in several business units.

The Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has confirmed three separate outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease across the province, prompting immediate quarantine measures, movement restrictions, and a coordinated emergency response.

Transport and logistics, and their growing impact on South Africa’s agricultural value chain, featured prominently in two presentations at the Agbiz Media Day held on 5 December in Pretoria.

South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease crisis has entered a critical phase. What began as a severe disease outbreak has become a deeper governance and leadership conflict; one that threatens national food security, agricultural exports, and the future stability of the industry.

Important regulatory changes in the agriculture sector are in the pipeline or at various stages of implementation, covering local government reforms, carbon emissions targets, changes to the Firearm Control Amendment Bill, and measures on water, land, and agricultural remedies.

South Africa’s top beef cattle producers and emerging farmers were celebrated recently at the 2025 ARC National Beef Performers Awards, a prestigious ceremony recognising excellence in herd genetics, management, and performance across the country.

South Africa’s agribusiness sector hit a high note in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) rising by five points to 67 after two quarters of decline, signalling firmer sentiment across subsectors.

Road construction projects in the Free State are grinding to a halt as political ideologies dominate procurement processes.

PwC’s latest consumer survey and economic outlook shows South Africans are heading into 2026 with concerns about living costs, economic instability, and healthcare access. These pressures threaten food affordability, farmworker well-being, and the resilience of the agriculture value chain.

Greater emphasis on improving Angora fibre quality, strengthening flock management, and sharing up-to-date goat health information shaped the Murraysburg Farmers’ Day, held on 2 December on Kruidfontein Farm in the Western Cape.

South African agriculture posted a surprisingly strong third-quarter performance in 2025, rebounding from two years of contraction. Economists note that, although growth came off a low base, the recovery still represents a meaningful shift for the sector.

Worldwide, the pressures on soil and water are becoming harder to ignore. As weather extremes intensify and productive land grows ever strained, farmers face a truth that science has long warned of: soil and water cannot be managed in isolation.

The African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) recently brought together government leaders, agricultural experts, financial institutions, and farmer representatives for its Leadership and Strategic Partnership Conference.

The revived Chris Hani Agricultural Show in the Eastern Cape has renewed efforts to integrate smallholder farmers into formal value chains, with the provincial government and development agencies identifying new market opportunities, infrastructure needs, and potential pathways for commercialisation.

Drones are no longer niche gadgets, they’re fast becoming essential tools on South African farms. At the 2025 Drone & Unmanned Aviation Conference, experts revealed how aerial spraying, crop analytics and predictive AI are reshaping agricultural decision-making.