South Africa

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.

The Grahamstown High Court recently approved an urgent interim interdict to temporarily ban livestock exports by sea from South Africa until at least 16 July.

The Competition Tribunal (CompTrib) recently published a comprehensive report detailing why it had approved PepsiCo’s approximately US$1,7 billion (about R28 billion) acquisition of Pioneer Foods.

The South African agriculture sector has increased its trade surplus by 16% in the first quarter of 2020, with minimal disruptions experienced due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The South African market is currently able to absorb the volumes of unprocessed milk being produced across the country, despite the lockdown restrictions and high feed prices, which has had a negative impact on producers.

Some South African fresh produce farmers are opting to plough their produce back into the ground rather than sending it to national fresh produce markets due to the low prices they are receiving, according to vegetable farmer Eric Mauwane of Oneo Farms near Tarlton in Gauteng.

A number of the largest agricultural events in South Africa have been cancelled or postponed this year due to restrictions that have been placed on local and international travel and gatherings of large groups of people as part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown regulations.

Delays at the Cape Town Container Terminal are posing major challenges to the exporting of South Africa’s fresh produce.

For many farmers, the impact of the current fuel price increases will be delayed, given that many producers who are in the process of harvesting and planting would have already stocked up on fuel for the season, according to Pertunia Setumo, agricultural economist at FNB Agribusiness.

South Africa’s maize exports proceeded swiftly during April and May despite disruptions to trade caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to Johan Straus, agricultural economist at the University of the Free State.

Although the South African wine industry resumed the domestic sale of liquor products for off-premise consumption by licensed vendors on Monday, the industry is still not out of the woods.

South Africa’s graphic paper value chain has expressed uncertainty about the future, as well as local demand as the economy gradually reopens from the hard lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.