South Africa

Whether you are looking for compact orchard tractors or high-horsepower machines built for large-scale operations, this year’s Nampo Harvest Day promises something for every production system. Farmer’s Weekly spoke to some of the leading exhibitors about the showstoppers in their line-ups.

Nation in Conversation, taking place at Nampo 2026 near Bothaville, Free State, aims to bring together industry leaders, academics, policymakers, and producers to unpack South Africa’s most pressing agricultural challenges.

The Eastern Cape government has moved to strengthen frontline animal health services and tackle unemployment in the province by investing R512 000 in a pilot programme supporting 13 animal health technicians to establish primary animal healthcare enterprises in rural communities.

Government has gazetted a new national vaccination framework and voluntary fast-track scheme aimed at accelerating South Africa’s response to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Excitement is building for this year’s Nampo Harvest Day, as thousands of farmers, agribusinesses, and industry stakeholders prepare to converge on Bothaville in the Free State for what remains the largest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere.

Excessive rainfall in the Northern Cape over recent weeks has caused extensive damage to the road network, severely impacting agriculture and prompting Agri Northern Cape (Agri NC) to urgently petition local government to declare a state of disaster.

South African farmers are facing a sharp rise in input costs after the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources confirmed steep fuel price increases for May, with diesel breaching R30/ℓ for the first time.

Two new cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) have been confirmed on a cattle farm in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, prompting intensified steps across the region as authorities move to prevent further spread.

The South African Pork Producers' Organisation (SAPPO) hosted its annual Baconer’s Brunch on 22 April in Cape Town, where agricultural financiers and media representatives were given an outlook on the pork industry’s production status, profitability, disease challenges, and welfare trends.

Efforts to strengthen compliance with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) livestock movement controls were evident on 28 April when Department of Agriculture provincial veterinary services officials, together with the Cullinan South African Police Service (SAPS) stock theft unit, attended the Karoo-Ochse weekly livestock auction in Bronkhorstspruit.

Sandveld potato producers have warned that proposed groundwater regulations could increase costs and red tape and ultimately threaten production in one of the country’s most water-dependent regions.

The South African sugar industry has welcomed a R200 million funding commitment from the Industrial Development Corporation aimed at restarting Tongaat Hulett’s mills and refinery ahead of the 2026/27 crushing season, easing immediate fears of disruption while longer-term uncertainty remains.

The Pretoria High Court has given the Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen a new deadline to publish its foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination scheme, as tensions rise between parts of the livestock industry and government over access to vaccines and delays in disease control.

After lifting consumption and driving on-farm efficiencies, Potatoes SA is looking to restructure its levy system to secure more stable funding for future industry expansion.

As the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine rollout begins to yield positive results, an outbreak at a recent livestock auction in the Free State has drawn criticism from Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen.

Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen recently recognised South Africa’s world champion wool shearing team, Bonile Rabela and Teboho Nyatsa, for winning gold and silver, respectively, at the Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships held in Masterton, New Zealand, in March.

The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), in partnership with CropLife Africa Middle East (AME), launched a webinar series on 1 April, with the first session placing biological crop protection at the centre of discussions on agricultural innovation across the region.

South Africa’s proposed national vaccination scheme for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is facing strong opposition from veterinary organisations, which warn that the plan, in its current form, could fail to contain the disease and expose government to legal risk.

A South African biotechnology collaboration has commercialised a key protein used to produce lab-grown meat. The development is not expected to pose an immediate threat to conventional livestock farming and may create new opportunities in the emerging cultivated meat value chain.

South African farmers and small business owners across the continent should diversify their offerings and capitalise on growing consumer demand for organic and natural products.