Former Tongaat Hulett executives released on bail in fraud case

A culture of deference and a lack of challenging authority at Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL) resulted in employees following instructions without questioning the basis for accounting practices, according to an investigation by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

‘Ramaphosa’s SONA pronouncements need to be turned into action’

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA 2022), on Thursday, 10 February, has been met with mixed reactions from stakeholders in the local agriculture sector.

Call to halt captive breeding of all big cat species

Animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is urging government to include all big cat species, including tigers, in its new protective legislation for lions, and prohibit the commercial trade in all big cats and their body parts.

‘Minimum wage increase could cripple smaller farmers’

Small- and medium-sized horticulture farmers, in particular, will be worst affected by the recently announced increase in the national minimum wage, according to Mariette Hugo, Hortgro’s group operations manager.

SONA 2022: ‘Economically sound actions needed to drive agri growth’

Outlining their expectations for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), scheduled for Thursday, 10 February, agricultural associations agreed that more action and less talk about economic recovery was needed.

Fears mounting about renewed FMD outbreak in KZN

Farmers in the Mtubatuba district of KwaZulu-Natal are “hoping and praying” that the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) case detected at a dip tank in the previously reduced Disease Management Area (DMA) does not mean the disease has spread further.

World Wetlands Day: SA farmers praised for wetland conservation

Wetlands and the essential role these areas play is often overlooked, neglected and abused.

‘Turn-around strategy needed for SA’s malting barley industry’

South Africa’s malting barley production fell 95 000t short of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (AB InBev) 360 000t-mandate during the past season, due to farmers rather planting crops with lower risk, such as canola and wheat.

‘Interest rate increase not all doom and gloom for agri sector’

The latest increase in the repo rate as announced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) should curb inflation, which could hold more benefits than disadvantages for South African agriculture in the long term.

Heavy rain puts a damper on SA’s maize crop estimate

South African growers have planted around 2,6 million hectares of maize this summer season, 5,29% less than the 2,7 million hectares planted in the previous season, the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) announced on 27 January.

Farmers warned against illegal veterinary practitioners

Livestock owners should take care to only make use of veterinarians and veterinary technicians who are registered with the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC).

Disaster classification brings hope for flood-stricken farmers

Organised agriculture has widely welcomed the National Disaster Management Centre’s recent classification of severe rainfall and flooding experienced in parts of the country as a national disaster.

Fungal diseases drive up wine grape production costs

The 2021/22 wine grape season will go down as a good, but expensive, season, according to Conrad Schutte, Vinpro’s consultation service manager.

Farmers must brace themselves for an interest rate hike

In the likely event that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) increases the repo rate by 25 basis points (0,25%) in the coming week, farmers will have to prepare themselves for the fact that it will become more expensive to service their debt.

‘Minimum wage should create opportunities for the unemployed’

Agri SA has called on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission to move its focus on the national minimum wage to the unemployed and the creation of job opportunities.

Vrede dairy project finally handed over to beneficiaries

Despite being “really happy” with the fact that the transfer of the Vrede dairy farm project in the Free State has finally been completed, there is still some frustration among the beneficiaries.

High rainfall causes extensive damage to summer grain crop

Twenty percent of grain producers in South Africa have lost more than 60% of their white maize plantings to water damage so far in 2022, according to a survey done by Grain SA earlier in January 2022.

Alleged abuse leads to suspension of government support vouchers

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is in the process of reviewing, reengineering and redesigning the implementation of its Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) vouchers, to address challenges identified by various stakeholders.

SA’s dire animal health situation is a constraint on livestock production

A shortage of veterinarians and a lack of training for small-scale and subsistence livestock farmers are crippling the potential of livestock production.

Thousands of hectares destroyed in Kleinmond wildfire

A wildfire that started in Highlands, at an old pine plantation managed by the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs near Kleinmond in the Western Cape, have destroyed more than 4 700ha of fynbos and plantations since it started on Saturday, 8 January.

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