South Africa

South Africa’s largest commercial farmers’ organisation, Agri SA, has announced changes to its executive leadership, which will see Christo van der Rheede, deputy executive director at Agri SA, replace Omri van Zyl as the new executive director, while Van Zyl will take up the role of CEO for the budding business unit, Agri SA Enterprises.

A 49-year-old man has been detained on charges of public violence following the protest action at Fairview Racecourse near Port Elizabeth on Thursday, 17 September.

A Boer goat ram from the Lukas Burger Boer Goat Stud near Griekwastad has been sold for a record price of R375 000 during the stud’s 22nd production sale, which took place at GWK auction pens in Kimberly on Wednesday, 16 September.

An incident at Fairview Racecourse in Port Elizabeth, in which a race horse has reportedly been slaughtered by protestors, is a “sad, sad situation”.

The production and marketing of South Africa’s cut flowers are struggling to recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19-related national and international lockdowns.

It is hoped that a recent High Court judgement will ensure that municipal wastewater treatment works cease polluting nearby freshwater and land resources.

The global 2020 macadamia crop suffered a blow as yields dropped 3% amid unfavourable weather conditions. Although sales have, for the most part, held firm over the past few months, this reduction in supply could serve to benefit farmers in terms of prices paid for the nuts.

The Grain Research Programme has been established to directly engage with grain stakeholders in an attempt to initiate research that will support the sector by identifying future challenges and exploring solutions, including extension and disease/pest diagnostic services.

South Africa is expecting a bumper blueberry harvest this season, but difficulties with air freighting are posing a challenge for exporters.

South Africa's economy took a not unexpected nosedive during the second quarter of 2020, a period that contained the lion’s share of the country’s five-week long hard lockdown which brought a halt to most economic activity.

The price of rooibos has fallen from an all-time record of R67/kg in 2018, to the lowest in years this season, due to supply and demand being out of sync.

The 2020/2021 production forecast for winter grains is looking promising, with bumper crops expected after difficult production conditions during the previous season.

Livestock farmers have been warned to take the necessary precautions to safeguard their animals, as the windy and cold weather conditions currently being experienced across most parts of country are expected to persist for the rest of the week.

Any gains intended by South Africa’s Poultry Sector Master Plan to reinvigorate the country’s long-ailing broiler value chain will be severely compromised should large-scale dumping of imported chicken meat onto the local market resume.

Nearly 40 000 motorcycle riders converged on the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Saturday, 29 August, to protest against farm attacks and racism in South Africa.

Women who work in the agriculture sector are still battling the perception that farming is a ‘man’s job.’

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in positive market demand for citrus, causing an upsurge in prices, according to Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa.

Farmers who will require financing from the Land Bank in the near future will encounter difficulties in accessing such funding due to the bank’s current liquidity challenges.

The South African Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) has welcomed today’s (25 August) judgment by the Grahamstown High Court to permit the exporting of up to 56 000 live sheep in a single shipment by sea from the East London Harbour.

There are large gaps in the available agricultural production data, particularly when it comes to the contribution of smallholder farmers to the informal agricultural economy in South Africa.