Back to basics

As usual, electioneering statements are being made about agriculture which bear little resemblance to reality. All we can hope for is that most of the electorate will see through the smokescreens come election day.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Lessons from ‘a beginner’

Pigeon Racing fancier Hein Rheeder is a member of the Southern Suburbs Specialist Club under the banner of the Golden Reef Pigeon Association. After nine years in pigeon racing he still refers to himself as a beginner, because he believes there's still a lot to learn.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Census figures show worrying trends

Higher wages were a direct cause of job losses in agriculture. Government will have to reconsider its agricultural employment policies.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Farming as an investment

Investors need to understand a farm's dual role as a business and a property investment, explained Prof Nicola Shadbolt, an associate professor in farm and agribusiness management at New Zealand's Massey University, at the 2009 SA Large Herds Conference. She gave advice on making investment decisions in these tough times.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Hungry cows can’t wait

Imagine 100 000 head of hungry cattle bellowing to be fed - to avoid that, the team at Karan Beef feedlots in Gauteng needs to prepare almost 900t of feed every day. They need equipment they can rely on and they've found it in Manitou Maniscopic machines. Joe Spencer reports.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Using nature for top quality production

Jonathan Grieve, viticulturist and owner of Avondale Wine Estate near Paarl, Western Cape, is pioneering an ecosystem management strategy called Bio-LOGIC, which transformed his run down old vines through a combination of organic and biological methods and a strong focus on soil health. Wouter Kriel reports.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Eastern Cape lechwe herd under legislative siege

Howard Ballantyne pioneered game farming in the typical cattle country of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. Over 30 years he built up the biggest privately owned herd of Kafue lechwe on 2 100ha, attracting lucrative business from international hunters. But as Mike Burgess discovered, all his efforts may be nullified by legislation entrenched in the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Less stress with once-a-day milking

Since the beginning of commercial dairy farming, new ideas to improve the industry have often been ridiculed. But some of these supposedly outlandish ideas have gradually become the norm. Lloyd Phillips takes a closer look at the new concept of once-a-day milking that's emerged out of New Zealand.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Local farmers speak out

Mandla Fundulile, an independent ploughing contractor from Gunge village about 17km from Mazeppa Bay, got his friends together for a heart-to-heart with Orrock Robertsen about agriculture in the former Transkei. The meeting was held at the house of Mxolsilise Dayimani, owner of 40 head of Nguni cattle, and joined by Robson Mvumbi and Mxolsilise's wife Nonikile.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Where have the farmers gone?

Having grown up as a farm boy on the Transkei border and being fluent in isiXhosa, Farmer's Weekly correspondent Orrock Robertsen took some survey work in a deep rural district of the Eastern Cape as an opportunity to judge for himself the current state of agriculture there. This is his personal account.

Conservation agriculture necessary to feed the world

Shivaji Pandey, director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, warns sustainable farming is the only way to feed the world. Alan Harman reports.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Conservation agriculture necessary to feed the world

Shivaji Pandey, director of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, warns sustainable farming is the only way to feed the world. Alan Harman reports.

Save on energy, save on tax

Farmers will soon get tax breaks for savings on energy-efficient projects. Details are expected by the middle of year, writes Drieka Burger.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Optimise nitrogen with maize & onion rotation

Ardell Halvorson and his team at the US Agricultural Research Service have found maize excels at mopping up the nitrogen onion crops don't use, saving on nitrogen fertiliser for about four consecutive crops. Alan Harman reports.
Issue date: 20 March 2009

Filling the information gap

Farmer's son from Ficksburg and ex-English teacher Craig Macaskill is the man behind The National Agricultural Directory, an extraordinary collection of everything and everyone important in local agriculture. Roelof Bezuidenhout spoke to him.

Marketing council chair calls for better protection

"The time has come for us to devise a system to make agriculture internationally competitive, as it is done all over the world," says National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) chairperson Ntombi Msimang in an address to the Grain SA congress. "If we don't want to use the word subsidy let's devise a new word from Sotho or Zulu.

The location differential stays – and it’s good for farmers

The current location differential system for wheat and maize will be retained, since its removal might significantly hurt farmers by reducing their ability to obtain input finance. This was decided at the 2009 Grain SA congress. Former Grain SA chairperson and a current delegate from Viljoenskroon Japie Grobler recommended the system be maintained and accepted as a working system.

Agriculture in the limelight at Climate Change Summit

In world terms South Africa is the 11th highest emitter of greenhouse gas. Population and gross domestic product place us higher. At the recent Climate Change Summit between 3 and 6 March, government and various other bodies shared their views on what needs to be done to reduce the effects of climate change. Glenneis Erasmus and Sharon Götte report.

Beet project gets green light

A project to produce 90 million litres of bioethanol from sugar beet cultivated in the Cradock area of the Eastern Cape has been granted final approval and will proceed. The project looks set to be the first large-scale bioethanol venture in the country and partners are hopeful that the plant will be constructed in 18 months.

Ethanol soon to flow from Mozambique

Sugarcane ethanol will pour out of the US0 million (R4,1 billion) Dombe Ethanol Project in Mozambique within three years. Billed as the largest biofuel project in Africa, and one of the largest in the world, Dombe was initiated by Geneva-based biofuel development company Principle Energy Limited (PEL).

Caxton Magazines

Back to basics

Lessons from ‘a beginner’

Census figures show worrying trends

Farming as an investment

Hungry cows can’t wait

Using nature for top quality production

Eastern Cape lechwe herd under legislative siege

Less stress with once-a-day milking

Local farmers speak out

Where have the farmers gone?

Conservation agriculture necessary to feed the world

Conservation agriculture necessary to feed the world

Save on energy, save on tax

Optimise nitrogen with maize & onion rotation

Filling the information gap

Marketing council chair calls for better protection

The location differential stays – and it’s good for farmers

Agriculture in the limelight at Climate Change Summit

Beet project gets green light

Ethanol soon to flow from Mozambique

MUST READS

Successful tomato production dependent on holistic approach

Poultry master plan investments are starting to pay off

FMD crisis: Zambia closes borders to South African livestock

State of the Nation Address solutions ‘impossible without policy reform’, say...