Combine harvester sales run out of steam in August

No combine harvesters were sold in South Africa during August, compared with the nine sold in August 2018, according to the latest statistics from the South African Agricultural Machinery Association (SAAMA).

Southern Cape urgently needs follow-up rain – Grain SA

Winter grain producers in the Southern Cape urgently need follow-up rain to ensure a good 2019 winter grain harvest.

Violence takes a toll on farmers – agri associations

Agri SA and the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) have called on government to step up action against escalating violence currently evident across South Africa.

Assistance for landowners to eradicate invasive alien plants

Clearing invasive species from a hectare of land could easily cost a landowner between R12 000 and 15 000, according to Cobus Meiring of the secretariat of the Southern Cape Landowners Initiative.

Agriculture performs poorly despite 3,1% GDP growth

Statistics South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) data for the second quarter of the year showed a growth of 3,1%, driven by mining, finance, trade and government services.

Government leaders intervene in KZN community land conflicts

Leaders in both national and provincial government spheres have stepped in to try to resolve ongoing conflicts within two separate KwaZulu-Natal communities over agricultural land acquired through the land restitution programme.

Calling all small-scale black sorghum farmers

Grant funding is now available from the Diageo Empowerment Trust South Africa (DETSA) for developing black sorghum farmers across South Africa to supply United National Breweries.

SA consumers set to face further food price pressure

Food inflation is set to increase in the short term due to various macro-economic indicators, which means that South African consumers can expect further food price increases.

Small-scale operations most susceptible to African swine fever

The South African government and the organised pig farming sector are working closely together to prevent highly contagious and often fatal African swine fever (ASF) from potentially wiping out the pig population of informal and small-scale producers.

‘Civil servants lax to assist drought-stricken farmers’

Almost the entire western part of the Eastern Cape was being affected by devastating drought conditions that started five years ago, said Doug Stern, president of Agri Eastern Cape.

Agri industries record far better growth than SA economy

The growth of the primary agriculture sector in South Africa is far outstripping the economic growth of the country as a whole.

New African swine fever outbreak in Gauteng

Gauteng’s Department of Economic Development, Agriculture and Environment is scrambling to contain yet another outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

Empowering small-scale women farmers in SA

The Women Farmers Programme, piloted in 2018 by the Vodacom Foundation in partnership with UN Women and South African Women in Farming (SAWIF), was formally launched in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Farmer’s Weekly remembers former editor Alita van der Walt

The agricultural journalism and farming communities are mourning the loss of Alita van der Walt, former editor of Farmer’s Weekly, who passed away on 12 August in Tzaneen, Limpopo.

Global trade tensions and weak economy hamper cotton prices

South African cotton prices are still declining, despite the second largest cotton yield on record.

Wagyu beef has ‘unique fatty acid composition’

Wagyu beef is a “curve bender” in terms of fatty acid composition, and the breed has the ability to actually change the way fatty acids are manufactured in an animal’s body.

1 000ha of Limpopo farmland burnt in protest action

It has been estimated that as much as 1 000ha of farmland near the town of Alma in Limpopo have been destroyed after allegedly being set alight during a community protest this week.

New traceability technology can give consumers peace of mind

While the traceability of retail items in the consumer goods industry has been in place for some time, the industry is now moving to serialised and unique identification at item level instead of only at batch level.

Farmers urged to vaccinate livestock proactively

Livestock owners are being urged to vaccinate livestock proactively against vector-borne diseases such as Rift Valley fever (RVF), rather than reacting after an outbreak.

Over 200 stolen animals recovered in cross-border operation

A recent three-day operation between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Lesotho government saw more than 230 head of stolen livestock recovered in an area stretching from Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal to Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State.

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