South Africa

A high court ruling on the sale of water rights could have far-reaching consequences for farmers, some agriculture role players have warned.

The director general of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department), Mike Mlengana, has resigned suddenly from his post.

South Africa is currently facing a serious shortage of diesel as a result of theft and vandalism along Transnet’s 3 800km fuel pipeline network.

The Agricultural Research Council’s (ARC) liabilities exceeded its assets by R138 million during the past financial year.

Grain SA has taken a very courageous decision to not continue with the Nampo Harvest Day event in 2020, according to Dr Kobus Laubscher, an independent agricultural economist in Bloemfontein.

In addition to diesel shortages across parts of South Africa, producers will also have to brace themselves for a hefty diesel price increase on Wednesday.

Tomato producers have been among those worst affected by a spate of cold fronts during May and June, which had a negative impact on certain fruit and vegetables traded on South Africa’s fresh produce markets.

With South Africa’s unemployment rate now standing at more than 30%, a labour expert has warned the worst was yet to come.

In a statement, which clearly outlined the perilous state of South Africa’s national finances, made worse by the economic strive that resulted from the national lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, there was some good news for the farming sector.

The failure by the management of the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market to implement meaningful and effective protocols to manage the threat posed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been cited as the key reason for the market having to suddenly close from 24 to 26 June.

One of the major obstacles still faced by new entrants in the farming sector was the lack of structured financial and practical support offered by the public and private sectors.

There is uncertainty about the impact the possible closure of the Edcon Group, which owns Edgars and Jet, will have on the local Sustainable Cotton Cluster (SCC), according to Hennie Bruwer, CEO of Cotton South Africa (Cotton SA).

The number of bulls subjected to growth tests at the Agricultural Research Council’s (ARC) bull growth test centres have slowly started increasing again following a sharp decrease earlier this year due to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, as well as the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Grain farmers need to prepare to pay even more for fertiliser when the new planting season gets underway due to the weaker rand which has seen the local price of some fertilisers increase by over 20% in April on a year-on-year basis.

Leaders of the Red Meat Industry Forum (RMIF) and the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (RPO) recently indicated that they were now in support of livestock exports from South Africa by sea, provided that they were conducted within animal welfare guidelines.

Despite improved output and export earnings, agribusiness confidence has fallen to the lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis, due to the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic.

Although wine exports resumed following the easing of the strict Level 5 lockdown regulations to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, wine exports continued to decline in May.

South African landowners who previously had to personally foot the bill for legal fees to successfully defend themselves against vexatious or frivolous land claims, will now have the option to request a court to award costs orders against the state or its legal representatives.

While government approval for subsistence, or biltong, hunting, during Level 3 of the national lockdown has been widely welcomed, South Africa’s wildlife ranching industry continues to struggle financially due to the wider impact of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Western Cape grain farmers have expressed relief about the significant rainfall that swept across the province thanks to a strong cold front this week.