Annelie Coleman
Annelie Coleman represents Farmer’s Weekly in the Free State, North West and Northern Cape.
Agriculture is in her blood. She grew up on a maize farm in the Wesselsbron district where her brother is still continuing with the family business.
Annelie is passionate about the area she works in and calls it ‘God’s own country’. She’s particularly interested in beef cattle farming, especially with the indigenous African breeds.
‘Alarming upswing in green maize theft threatens food security’
The theft of green maize cobs in the Free State has escalated to such an extent that food security in the province is under threat.
Urgent financial support needed to fight Northern Cape locusts
Agri Northern Cape is appealing for financial support of its aerial locust extermination team to prevent the brown locust swarms currently prevalent across the Northern Cape reaching the crop production areas along the Vaal and Orange rivers, the Free State, and North West.
Namibia’s agri sector on the rebound, despite Swakara losses
While most agricultural industries in Namibia achieved positive results in 2021, international trade restrictions imposed in an attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severely negative impact on the country’s Swakara industry.
Agri shows to return to local calendar this year
Grain SA is going ahead with arrangements for the 2022 Nampo Harvest Day while it awaits the outcome of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s undertaking to lift the state of emergency, instituted in 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Teaching children about the crucial roles of insects in nature
Prof Johnnie van den Berg, an entomologist at North-West University, is passionate about insects and their critical contribution they make to the environment by pollinating plants and dispersing seeds. He is equally committed to teaching preschool children about the importance of insects.
Urgent action needed to fight locusts across large parts of SA
The enormous swarms of brown locusts currently in evidence across the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape need to be eradicated as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the provinces’ farmland.
Sexed semen: a game changer for Damara stud
Using sexed semen in an artificial insemination programme carries a 90% assurance that the surrogate animal will deliver offspring of the desired sex. Annelie Coleman spoke to Damara farmer Stan Burger and embryo-flushing expert Dr Fanie Steyn about the technical process and how to prepare the surrogate ewes.
Call for Free State farmers to pay for road repairs met with dismay
Farmers in the Free State are in a catch-22 situation following a call by the Free State provincial government for the province’s farming sector to repair the ever-deteriorating provincial road network at their own cost.
Small livestock farmers in the Free State ‘besieged’ by thieves
Farmers in the Phuthaditjhaba district of the Free State are left at the mercy of stock thieves, with little or no support from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Former Tongaat Hulett executives released on bail in fraud case
A culture of deference and a lack of challenging authority at Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL) resulted in employees following instructions without questioning the basis for accounting practices, according to an investigation by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Call to halt captive breeding of all big cat species
Animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is urging government to include all big cat species, including tigers, in its new protective legislation for lions, and prohibit the commercial trade in all big cats and their body parts.
Fears mounting about renewed FMD outbreak in KZN
Farmers in the Mtubatuba district of KwaZulu-Natal are “hoping and praying” that the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) case detected at a dip tank in the previously reduced Disease Management Area (DMA) does not mean the disease has spread further.
World Wetlands Day: SA farmers praised for wetland conservation
Wetlands and the essential role these areas play is often overlooked, neglected and abused.
SA Veterinary Council committed to change
According to Dr Alfred Tlolo Kgasi, president of the South African Veterinary Council, the transformation of the veterinary profession is a priority.
Santa Gertrudis bulls show their value in extended veld tests
Extensive veld tests by the Bosveld Santa Gertrudis Study Group have made a valuable contribution to establishing the breed’s reputation amongst other beef cattle in South Africa.
‘Minimum wage should create opportunities for the unemployed’
Agri SA has called on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Commission to move its focus on the national minimum wage to the unemployed and the creation of job opportunities.
High rainfall causes extensive damage to summer grain crop
Twenty percent of grain producers in South Africa have lost more than 60% of their white maize plantings to water damage so far in 2022, according to a survey done by Grain SA earlier in January 2022.
Farmers assessing damage caused to farmland by flooding of mine dam
Farmers in the Welkom district are still in the process of assessing the extent of the damage to grain lands and grazing after an evaporation dam belonging to the local Sibanye-Stillwater mine breached its walls at the end of December 2021.
Turning young bulls into productive herd sires
All beef cattle producers want their young bulls to develop into productive sires, but for this to happen, they need to manage these animals carefully. Annelie Coleman spoke to livestock nutrition specialist Dr Francois van de Vyver about how to achieve this.
Vast areas of grazing destroyed by locusts in the Eastern Cape
While difficult to quantify, it could be safely assumed that thousands of hectares of grazing have thus far been destroyed by brown locusts (Locustana pardalina) in the Eastern Cape since the start of the 2021/22 summer season.
