South Africa

Updated weather models and information about cyclone Eloise are suggesting the possibility of widespread flooding, damage to roads and bridges, as well as the possible displacement of affected communities in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

Two of South Africa’s major organised agriculture bodies have expressed concern that farmers who have temporarily handed in their firearms to the South African Police Service (SAPS) during the current amnesty are now defenceless against would-be attackers and other threats.

In a year that will probably go down in history as one of the most challenging years ever for the South African wine industry, wine exports managed to increase 7,7% in value, according to Wines of South Africa.

Free State Agriculture (FSA) has strongly condemned the latest farm attack in the province in which a farm foreman, Simon Mokhala (77), was attacked and nearly drowned in a septic tank.

Farmer’s Weekly celebrates its 110th anniversary this year and this is your chance to get involved and be featured in the collectors’ commemorative edition.

The South African Weather Services (SAWS) has issued a warned about Tropical Storm Eloise, which was currently moving over the northern parts of Madagascar and was expected to enter the Mozambique Channel by 21 January.

The spill-over of the liquor ban to the agriculture sector is going to be serious, but the impact is yet to be determined, according to Agri SA executive director, Christo van der Rheede.

After three difficult years, the 2020/2021 Bulida apricot crop was an example of how quickly nature can recover due to favourable conditions.

With early rain experienced in different parts of the country, high infestation levels of the fall armyworm (FAW) can be expected. Farmers and community members were therefore encouraged to regularly scout for FAW during the 2020/2021 crop production season, particularly in younger plantings.

A hailstorm that recently struck parts of the Langkloof caused substantial damage in the area with apples and pears among the main crops affected.

Farmworker wages could increase as much as 16,1% in 2021. This followed the National Minimum Wage Commission recommending in November 2020 that the minimum wage for farmworkers be aligned with the national minimum wage (NMW) in 2021, based on the argument that the agriculture sector was not as severely affected as other sectors by the COVID-19-related lockdown.

Many South Africans fearful of COVID-19 are reportedly throwing caution to the wind by orally consuming ivermectin-based products registered nationally only for administration to livestock in oral, injectable or pour-on formats.

Farmers in the Northern Cape and Klein Karoo have described the recent heavy rainfall received in these regions as a blessing after years of crippling drought.

A farmworker, Doreen Frieslaar, has been killed and numerous others have been injured in a road accident on Tuesday, 4 January on the N1 between De Doorns and Worcester.

Restrictions on people’s movements during the various COVID-19-related lockdown stages last year appear not to have helped reduce the number of murders on South Africa’s farms and smallholdings.

It is too early to determine the extent of the damage caused to grain plantings following extremely high rainfall in parts of the western Free State during the past two weeks, but it can be assumed that the damage is extensive.

South Africans have been warned not to use the parasiticide, ivermectin, as a preventative or curative treatment for COVID-19. This is after the international debate on the drug’s effectiveness against the disease reached local shores late last year.

The South African wine industry expects a promising 2021 wine grape harvest, according to the industry’s first crop estimate.

While macadamias rode out the storm last year, 2021 is likely to see a price decrease in US dollar terms for the first time in years.

Not only is a record crop predicted for this season’s wheat harvest, but wheat prices have also achieved record highs.