Caxton Magazines

The Royal Show, SA’s oldest and largest mixed exhibition, took place in Pietermaritzburg from 24 May to 2 June. Joe Spencer describes some of the vehicles that Bell Equipment had displayed.

The chocolate brownie is without doubt one of the finest contributions made to civilisation by the US. Stories about its invention clog the internet. But the truth of the matter is simply this: every time a baker makes a batch, the glorious concept is reinvented anew. Try this outstanding version next time the chocolate craving threatens to take over.

Some months ago at a local farmers’ market I found a stall selling lagaan. After some heavy-duty charm on my part, the stall holder let me in on the secret recipe. Back home in the lab, some additional research and development by my wife resulted in this outstanding food concept and cultural artefact. No braai at our home is complete without it.

Chicken on the braai can so easily be one of life’s great failures. You all know about it – skin nice and crispy on the outside, yet deep within the breast or thigh, the meat is pallid and the juices red. Apart from the marginal health risk of salmonella, there’s that inherent resistance, even from those who love their steak 99% raw, to ingesting rare chicken. One of the easier ways out of this problem is to prepare this pared-down version of chicken tikka, a dish of Indo-Pakistani origin which can now be eaten worldwide.

Retail trade sales, measured in real terms increased by 1,9% year-on-year in April, compared to the 2,7% growth in March and 3,9% in February, Statistics South Africa reported.

The need for stakeholders in the red meat abattoir sector to ensure that their operations had the very best productivity and quality control systems in place was highlighted at a recent conference of the Red Meat Abattoir Association in Stellenbosch.

South Africa and Argentina signed a bilateral agreement to work together to improve the agricultural sectors in each country.

I wonder how many farmers appreciate the work involved in selling their produce? When you walk onto a busy market floor, you’ll see agents engaged in animated debate with buyers and the whole scene looking and sounding decidedly chaotic.

Agri-company DuPont opened a $40 million (R400 million) maize, sunflower seed and oilseed rape hybrids production facility in Ukraine last week.

Maize producers and maize users will have to watch the markets carefully in coming months.

Precision agriculture (PA) allows farmers to operate more efficiently and become better decision-makers. Australian Tim Neale and Sharon Clay from the US took part in a PA conference in Potchefstroom. Annelie Coleman compiled this report.

A new international marketing collaboration between South African fynbos producers and European management and marketing companies promises exciting export opportunities for local farmers.

Only 18 farmers had been granted temporary exemption from the new minimum wage for farm workers at the time of going to print.

KZN commercial sugarcane grower Roy Sharma was recently appointed president of the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG) at its 11th conference in India. He spoke to Robyn Joubert about the industry.

Spurred by the formation of Afasa, Nafu is at last getting its act together.

In frosty areas, growers usually want to start planting as soon as it’s safe to do so. But due to late frosts, the timing isn’t always easy to determine.

While it’s well-known that the vast majority of South Africa’s land reform transfers have failed due to factors such as inadequate post-settlement support, in Mpumalanga the opposite is happening, thanks to TSB Sugar’s proactive approach. Lloyd Phillips reports.

A couple from Dannhauser in KwaZulu-Natal and the woman’s son were recently arrested by the Glencoe Stock Theft Unit for allegedly being involved in a syndicate that stole cattle and then quickly sold them again.

Seo Mtetwa, MD of Nu Dawn Eggs, talks about the company's beginning, success and future.

It’s expensive to grow out heifers until they calve for the first time. It pays to invest in the heifer group, says the ARC’s Leslie Bergh.