South Africa

The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza’s decision to place South Africa’s cattle on a 21-day lockdown will “hurt the entire beef value chain, but the alternative would be far worse”. This was according to James Faber, chairperson of the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO).

The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa (Land Bank) has denied claims that it is using aggressive and strong-arm tactics to liquidate clients who default on their loan repayment obligations.

Western Cape farmers have welcomed the South African Weather Service’s (SAWS) warning that a series of cold fronts are expected to affect large parts of South Africa during the following five days.

South Africans have until 8 September to make submissions to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment following the release of a White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity.

Citrus growers are likely to only receive half their expected returns on any fruit released after South Africa was granted leave to process the more than 2 000 containers of oranges that had been stuck at EU ports since the introduction of new phytosanitary regulations there.

Mushroom prices in South Africa are still recovering after production of the crop came under pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the negative impact of trade restrictions on the food service and tourism markets.

Jumbo (WZ 1452), an eight-year-old Boran bull, is an exceptionally well-balanced animal that is structurally correct on nearly every level.

Persistently wet lands have forced many farmers in South Africa’s summer rainfall region to make use of additional casual labourers to harvest grain and oilseed crops.

The current and unwarranted ban on wool exports from South Africa to China, due to recent foot-and-mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks in parts of the country, is the biggest challenge the industry has faces during the past two centuries.

Rhino poachers are moving away from the Kruger National Park to private reserves, with KwaZulu-Natal suffering the most incidents so far this year.

Plant numbers in the Succulent Karoo Biome are declining at an alarming rate due to the combined impact of climate change and the illegal removal of these rare and endangered plants from their natural habitat.

Agricultural stakeholders have welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to end rolling blackouts across the country, but have also raised some concerns.

With thousands of skilled South Africans emigrating and xenophobia discouraging immigration, Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz, has warned that South Africa’s agriculture sector could become stagnant in the absence of enough skilled agri-tech workers.

The current steep increases in food prices would not continue indefinitely, according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz.

The murder of seven people on Lismor Farm in the Kestell district on Friday, 15 July has reaffirmed the importance of vigilance and having an up-to-date rural safety plan in place to empower farmers against farm attacks. This was according to Uys van der Westhuizen, chairperson of Agri SA’s rural safety committee.

Despite the robust performance of local agricultural machinery sales in the first half of the year, sales were expected to level off in the second half of 2022, according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief agricultural economist at Agbiz.

South African businesses and consumers should prepare themselves for an interest rate hike of between 50 and 75 basis points to be announced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Thursday, 21 July.

Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, CropLife South Africa’s stewardship manager, expressed serious concern about the exporting of donkey skins from South Africa to China.

South Africa’s Khoi and San communities are finally being recognised for their intellectual contributions to rooibos cultivation. However, according to Collin Louw, secretary general of the South African San Council, it was concerning to see the amount of infighting among the communities’ members over the funds they were due to be paid for the role they played in the sector.

South Africa’s largest passion fruit farming enterprise is moving its operations to Ghana in response to Transnet’s inability to operate South Africa’s ports smoothly, taking millions of rands of investment and hundreds of jobs with it.