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.
Global fertiliser prices at a two-year high
International fertiliser prices, except for potassium chloride, were at their highest levels in more than 24 months during March, according to Ikageng Maluleke, an agricultural economist at Grain SA.
Breeding wireworm-resistant Meatmasters
Through rigorous selection, Meatmaster stud breeder Nico Grobler from North West has succeeded in significantly reducing wireworm infestation in his Kern Meatmaster flock. This has enabled him to run the stud successfully in an area highly susceptible to the parasite.
Crumbling roads push up production costs for grain farmers
The severely damaged road system in the Free State is making it difficult for farmers in that province to deliver their crops to market, eroding agricultural profit margins in the process.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy set to recover in 2021 – World Bank
African countries have made remarkable investments to keep their economies afloat and protect the lives and livelihoods of their people over the past year, according to Albert G. Zeufack, World Bank chief economist for Africa.
Boerseep from Bothaville
Making boerseep takes hours, and the combination of ingredients and timing are crucial to the process. After years of searching for a traditional recipe, Esmarelda van der Walt of Bothaville has become an expert at making this pure, all-purpose, biodegradable soap.
Drought, COVID-19 take heavy toll on Namibian sheep farmers
The Namibian Swakara industry has experienced major production losses for the past three consecutive years.
Botched land reform costing agri department R2 billion
Legal action running to more than R2 billion that had been instituted against the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department) as a result of poor land reform and land administration processes, was extremely alarming.
Free State MEC promises to address poor Ficksburg roads
Free State Agriculture (FSA) president, Francois Wilken, has expressed the hope that the Free State MEC for Roads, Sam Mashinini, will honour his promise to attend to the poor state of the roads in the Ficksburg area.
Ficksburg protest highlights impact of poor rural roads
Several organisations took part in protest action, organised by the Ficksburg community forum, Sechaba sa Ficksburg, that saw the closure of a number of roads in the district on Wednesday, 17 March.
World’s freshwater supply dwindling fast
The increasing restraints on freshwater supplies is threatening global food security. Urgent action is therefore needed to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and equitable.
Kudu rabies epidemic in Namibia drives up trophy prices
The Namibian Livestock Producers’ Organisation (LPO) has welcomed the encouraging results of new research being conducted on the ongoing epidemic of kudu rabies in Namibia.
Solution needed for SA’s ‘complex’ communal land tenure
Almost a third of South Africa’s population lives in remote rural areas on communal, subsistence agricultural land.
Watchdog needed to regulate SA’s grain industry
The South African grain industry is currently riddled with debates about the availability and credibility of market information, despite the fact that the available industry information is trustworthy.
How to keep the family business in business
Very few family farming operations transition effortlessly from one generation to another. The process requires careful planning, hard work and a lot of patience. Annelie Coleman spoke to several experts about the factors that drive success, and found that timeous succession planning, a family constitution, and a willingness to allow new entrants topped the list.
Speculators blamed for recent African swine fever outbreak
A limited outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) on a farm near Potchefstroom earlier this month has been confirmed by the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO).
Farmer swindled out of 1 300 sheep in R4,9m deal
Following the arrest of two suspects who allegedly defrauded a Free State farmer out of sheep to the value of R4,9 million, Free State Agriculture has reiterated its warning to farmers to remain vigilant, and to be scrupulous when verifying the bona fides of people with whom they conduct business.
Namibian dairy industry in fight for survival
The Namibian dairy sector is battling to survive, with production decreasing and the price-cost squeeze forcing producers to exit the sector.
Farming sector warns of job losses due to minimum wage hike
Minister of Employment and Labour Thembelani Nxesi recently announced that the minimum wage for farmworkers has increased by 16% to bring it in line with the national minimum wage.
Deadline extended for comment on new Expropriation Bill
The Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure has announced that the deadline for written submissions by interested parties on the Expropriation Bill [B23 – 2020] has been extended from 10 to 28 February.
Expropriation bill ‘will limit property rights’ in SA
Free State Agriculture (FSA) remains vehemently opposed to certain clauses in the Expropriation Bill and seriously questions government’s sincerity with regard to the issue of land expropriation and ownership, according to Francois Wilken, FSA president.
