Caxton Magazines
Reviving Ongeluksnek’s farms
Coerced by apartheid legislation in the late 1970s, white commercial farmers left the highly productive Ongeluksnek region near Matatiele in the Eastern Cape to make way for a larger Transkei - a forced removal that heralded the collapse of commercial agriculture in the area.
How to be a horse whisperer
There's no mysticism involved. To build a beautiful friendship with your horse, you just need to know how to speak its language, writes Kim Dyson.
Marigolds don’t control eelworm
Reading about using marigolds to suppress eelworms piqued my curiosity, so when the opportunity arose, I tried it for myself.
Practical experience achieves 16t/ha maize
The latest agricultural technology can help farmers improve their maize yields. But, as farm manager Lorenz Freese proves, decades of practical experience combined with old-fashioned hands-on management can get the job done just as well.
New Consumer Protection Act
The new Consumer Protection Act gives consumers a lot of power. Since farmers share the responsibility for product quality, they need to stick to good agricultural practices - or risk being sued.
The good, the bad & the ugly of agriculture
As an ally of the commercial farming sector, Prof Mohammed Karaan’s election to President Zuma’s National Planning Committee gave renewed hope to commercial agriculture in South Africa. Addressing the inaugural congress of the Young Farmer’s Forum in Rawsonville in the Western Cape, Prof Karaan outlined the global issues that will shape the future of farming.
Thatched Game farm home near Vryburg
Gill, Adele and Dick gave me a call to see the proposed development site on their 5000ha game farm near Vryburg.
Managing a sow – part 2
A sow is a female pig used for breeding, and a healthy female can give six or more litters. This week we look at handling a pregnant sow.
Dealing with soil compaction – part 1
Small-scale farmers often overlook the damage caused by bad tillage methods, leading to compacted soil, destroying their hard work, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.
Maths vital for profitable farming
We can't escape maths, so learn to love it, because it's something you can't do without when it comes to running your business successfully, writes Susan Pletts.
Ethanol-from-sugar-beet project in the great Fish River
The planned ethanol-from-sugar-beet project in Cradock looks like it's going ahead. But the farming community has been left divided, with some excited by the prospect of new markets, while others dread increased crime and a disrupted community.
Weeds don’t deserve their bad reputation
Farmers exterminate weeds without understanding their role in soil ecology, says Nutritech Solutions CEO Graeme Sait. An expert on high-production sustainable agriculture, he spoke to Sonja Burger about the potential benefits of weeds and alternatives to controlling them with herbicide.
Measuring soil Nitrogen status
Farmers can cut nitrogen costs if they know how much nitrogen their soil already has, and how much it still needs to maximise yields. This week, John Fair discusses how to take soil samples to measure soil nitrogen status.
Sureties just never go away
When a business is sold, the shareholders and guarantors of the company's debts have to make sure the debts are settled.
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Snails put BEE on the fast track
Elezane Industries started as a community development project in 1999 and is now South Africa's first live-snail exporting business. It creates hundreds of jobs while also offering an environmentally friendly solution to the snail problem on Cape farms.
Predator management – a lesson from the US
When it comes to predator management, South African agricultural and environmental authorities look more like the farmer's foe than friend in comparison with the US's wildlife service.
New broom for Eastern Cape agriculture
Agri Eastern Cape supports sustainable and responsibly executed land reform measures. It accepts that attempts at land reform by previous governments have, almost without exception, been unsuccessful, with a disastrous impact on individuals and communities.
Plant less, buy more
Wonderful opportunities are often disguised as insurmountable problems. Take the low maize prices and the fact that many producers are facing bankruptcy. There's an elegant and simple way out of this seemingly dire predicament - buying maize instead of planting it will benefit all farmers, big or small, says Jozeph du Plessis, maize farmer and chairperson of the Schweizer-Reneke District Agricultural Union.
Decline in parks’ large mammal numbers
Numbers of large mammals are dropping in national parks all over Africa - except in the continent's southern countries, where good management shows what can be achieved.
Bringing the war to the bitter bush
Bitter bush veld is a sign of overgrazing and veld degradation. Eradicating this invader will allow palatable, perennial grasses to flourish again, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.
