South Africa

The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) recently raised alarm over Namibia’s decision to reinstate its ban on the importation of bovine semen and embryos from South Africa as of 8 April, warning that the move could severely disrupt the red meat value chain between the two countries.

The finance MECs of various provinces recently delivered their respective provincial budgets for the 2025/26 financial year, outlining allocations to the agriculture sector amid economic constraints.

Speakers at the Agri Western Cape’s regional congress recently held in Grabouw encouraged members to check facts and not become upset or misled by misinformation.

With the theme ‘Global agriculture, locally!’, this year’s Nampo Harvest Day (Nampo) is expected to draw more than 70 000 visitors to Nampo Park in Bothaville from 13 to 16 May.

Outbreaks of green longhorn grasshoppers, also known as katydids or bush crickets, were recently reported in several areas across Mpumalanga, including Aerorand, Rondebosch, Kanonkop, Emalahleni, and Middelburg.

US President Donald Trump announced on 2 April that he would impose at least a 10% tariff on all exports to the United States, with some 60 nations, including key trading partners like China, the European Union, Japan, and Vietnam, facing even higher duties.

South Africa’s tractor park has been growing steadily in size and power over the past 20 years, reflecting the need for greater efficiency, particularly in areas with short planting windows.

A new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, bringing the province's total to 147 active outbreaks out of the 165 reported in South Africa.

South Africa is looking forward to growing avocado exports to China during the coming season. This followed after the Chinese market opened up to South African avocado exports.

The yields for all summer crops have been revised upward in the recently released second production forecast of the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC).

The Competition Commission’s Fresh Produce Market Inquiry (FPMI) report, which was released in January, offered some valuable insights, but some recommendations were deemed unrealistic and impractical by industry experts.

Famers have been warned to prepare for a second strike of African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) during this or next week (week of 31 March).

South Africa should forget the US and instead focus its attention on growing export markets in Africa and the East. This was the sentiment expressed by speakers at the AgBusiness day of the Africa Agri Tech conference that took place from 18 to 20 March in Pretoria.

South Africa’s status as a net exporter of food and a leading player in high-value horticultural export markets contradicts the fact that it has always been a water-scarce country, subject to periodic droughts and erratic rainfall patterns, according to Arno Abeln, managing director at Agrimark Operations.

The South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) has called for more veterinary training facilities to be built, and for fewer bureaucratic rules to be imposed on the industry.

South Africa is ripe for disinformation campaigns about agriculture that could cripple food production and innovation.

New cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) have been detected in the Newcastle area of KwaZulu-Natal. The outbreak has now spread beyond the boundaries of the original Disease Management Area (DMA), prompting immediate action from authorities.

South Africa is moving closer to implementing a full traceability system for the red meat sector. It is hoped that this will assist meat exports and boost dwindling margins in the industry.

Cornelis Bester from Heidelberg took the laurels in this year’s Goliat van Gat Pumpkin Festival, hosted by the Cullinan Farmers’ Union, with a whopper of a 445kg pumpkin. Bester named the gigantic pumpkin Grietjie after his mother, Magriet Bester.

South African agricultural businesses are relatively upbeat, judged by the recently released Agbiz/IDC Confidence Index (ACI).