Tozi Gwanya:Farming’s fate in his hands

Tozi Gwanya was appointed director general of Land Affairs last month. The position carries considerable weight. The fate of all SA's land programmes, including privatising communal land, finalising land claims, transferring a third of white-owned farms to blacks and implementing tenure security laws for farmworkers, lies in his hands. Stephan HofstÃ¤tter reveals the man behind the public face of SA's top land bureaucrat.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Powdery mildew is often misdiagnosed

We generally associate fungal diseases with moist conditions, but powdery mildew is an exception. Hot, dry conditions promote the development of this pathogen.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Angus Buchan’s Mighty Men’s Conference 2008 – Faith for farmers in turmoil

In 2003, world-renowned farmer and preacher Angus Buchan attracted a mere 240 men to his Mighty Men's Conference on his Greytown farm. This year, about 60 000 men from around the world attended the conference with one goal in common: to receive God's wisdom and go home with hope for these difficult times. Lloyd Phillips was there.
Issue date : 16 May 2008

Sparta Group – A family-run business worth millions

The Sparta Group is a family-owned enterprise which has grown from a humble 30 cattle to 50 000, employs 1 000 people, contributes R3 million monthly to the Free State economy and has become the leading supplier of beef and beef products in the Free State. Annelie Coleman reports.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Thoughts on the Horse of the Year

"Went to bed at midnight and was up at 3:30am to get the horses loaded," the chap who had parked his horse trailer next to us said. He'd heard us griping about early rising to make the First Class at the Horse of the Year show in Kyalami.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Black Economic Empowerment: not only the transfer of land

Afgri Farming has come up with an innovative way of addressing BEE. Instead of redistributing land, they have developed a new model to put land already owned by blacks back into productive use. Sharon Gotte reports.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

New Expropriation Bill hysteria

Reaction to the new Expropriation Bill being debated by parliament has so far verged on hysteria.Critics are calling it an ominous assault on property rights that undermines the separation of powers between the judiciary and executive, and a precursor to Zimbabwean-style land grabs. Our land reform expert Stephan HofstÃ¤tter takes stock.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Red-fleshed revolution

Dutch company NFG is offering a red-fleshed apple with more antioxidants, to go with their new pear cultivars. Robyn Joubert reports.
Issue date : 16 May 2008

Are you more than just a producer?

The third annual Eat In RMB Private Bank South African Produce Awards is asking the public to nominate producers, stores, foodies, home industries, food technologists and farmers who are "quietly refining the art of creating and innovating in the food industry".
Issue Date 16 May 2008

Market agents give to worthy charities

In celebration of Health Awareness Month in April, RSA Market Agents donated fresh fruit and vegetables to the Sisters of Charity, Nazareth House, Deansgate Home for the Aged and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
Issue date: 16 May 2008

Farmworkers stand proud in Lephalale

In April Spek Molebatsi was named Farmworker of the Year for Limpopo's Lephalale district. The Farmworker of the Year initiative originated with the district's organised agricultural forum, during which the area representatives of Agri SA, TAU SA and Nafu regularly meet with the regional Department of Agriculture representatives to discuss agricultural matters.
Issue Date: 16 May 2008

Savanna rejuvenation research fires up in Kruger

Experiments are being conducted in the Kruger National Park to prove that fires can be used to rejuvenate savanna ecosystems and boost biodiversity. T he Savanna Fire Ignition Research Experiment (SavFIRE) is an ongoing initiative to investigate different types of fire patterns and their effect on biodiversity.
Issue Date 16 May 2008

Absa partners Kirkwood Wildlife Festival

The Organisers of the annual Kirkwood Wildlife Festival have signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Absa. The festival is organised around the annual auction of top- quality game from the Addo Elephant National Park and other national and provincial parks and private reserves.
Issue Date 16 May 2008

Mondi faces action for alleged negligent alien-control practices

At the Grassland Society of Southern Africa symposium, held in Bishopstowe outside Pietermaritzburg on 17 April, farmer Iain Buchan announced his intention to sue the international paper and packaging maker Mondi for about R1,5 million. Buchan, who in January 2005 purchased 180ha of grassland and indigenous bush above the N3 near Mooi River, is dissatisfied with Mondi's failure to complete the rehabilitation of old timber land on his newly acquired farm.
Issue Date 16 May 2008

Attention for EC roads

During its presentation to the portfolio committee on roads and transport at the provincial legislature in Bisho recently, the Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport announced that during this financial year it would spend R100 million reconstructing the province's roads.

KZN farmers reminded of anthrax threat

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs (DAEA) has reminded livestock farmers that the recent outbreak of anthrax in western Lesotho and the Northern Cape makes the disease an ongoing threat.

Cops not ready for border control, says auditor general

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has announced it will cease its operations at the country's border posts in March 2009.
Issue Date: 18 May 2008

What will happen to the business units of the Wine Council?

The four business units of the council won't be affected by the resignation of producers, because they are funded by statutory industry levies
Issue Date: 16 May 2008

Wine producers resign en masse from SA Wine Industry Council

the Black Association of Wine and Spirits Producers (BAWSI), is threatening to make the local wine industry "the pariah of the world market again", following the withdrawal of VinPro, Wine Cellars South Africa (WCSA) and the African Liquor Brandowners' (Salba) as members and directors of the SA Wine Industry Council.
Issue Date: 16 May 2008

Jobs for HIV sufferers

The Eastern Cape's Umzi Wethu Academy for youth affected by HIV/Aids has opened its second campus at an old Somerset East school and hostel.
Issue Date:16 May 2008

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