Caxton Magazines

Jacques Fremy, a retired senior agricultural training and project advisor for the World Bank and the International Labour Organisation, argues that Africa doesn't appreciate the technical challenges food production poses

From humble roots, a mighty tree 12 years ago, Olga Malapane picked up a handsaw and entered the male-dominated timber industry.
Issue date 5 October 2007

Kobus's crop rotation programme currently consists of five years lucerne, followed by one year wheat, one year wheat or barley, one year lupins or peas, one year wheat, one year wheat or barley, one year canola and another year wheat
Issue date 5 October 2007

Kobus Wessels was recently chosen as the Western Cape Grain SA finalist. Glenneis Erasmus learnt the secret to his farming success: precision, passion and using all available resources to the maximum
Issue date 5 October 2007

This year's Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite Drakensberger Cow, FD 95 0021, was born and bred on F anie van Dyk's Brakenjan stud
Issue date 5 October 2007

This year's Farmer's Weekly-ARC Best Elite South Devon Cow, AC 93 09, has calved 11 times and is currently pregnant with her 12th.
Issue date 5 October 2007

Economic growth on the African continent is low at just over 5%, but an African supermarket revolution on the back of new urban wealth is gaining momentum.
Issue date 5 October 2007

Cash crops and dairy cows thrive in the fertile, misty valleys where Good Hope farm is located.
Issue date 5 October 2007

The false alarm is alarm systems' greatest bugbear. It wastes time, causes stress and erodes confidence in the system
Issue date 5 October 2007

Cape Mohair and Wool, in conjunction with FNB, held its annual Best Economically Classed Wool Clip Awards ceremony on 7 September. The five finalists were Wayne Porter (AM Porter & Son) from Tarkastad; PD Jacobs of Vleiplaas Trust, Trompsburg; Paul Greeff of Willowmore; TPJ Vorster of Middelburg (Eastern Cape) and Gys Steyn and Thinus Viljoen of Neusberg Farming, also from Middelburg. There were only a few points' difference between the grand champion and the other winners. The winner was TPJ Vorster of Middelburg, who collected the award for the second time. - Staff reporter
Issue date: 28 September 2007

The fourth Kwanalu Toyota Young Farmer of the Year competition produced two outstanding finalists. This year's winner, Brandon Karg, was presented with the Kwanalu floating trophy and R5 000.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

La Motte's immense success in gaining gold medals at prestigious international wine competitions continued as they claimed two more awards at the 2007 MUNDUSvini Great International Wine Awards, held earlier this month in Cape Town.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

Neil MacGregor, a farmer from Nieuwoudtville, recently sold his 6 300ha farm Glenlyon to be used as a national botanical garden.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

In the 1960s South African gold mines earned £400 million per year, while government earned £500 million in taxes, according to environmental rights activist Mariette Liefferink.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

The Deciduous Fruit Development Trust (DFIDT) recently allocated almost R500 000 to training and empowerment programmes in the fruit industry.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

Birds have always been nature's early-warning system and in recent years they've been issuing their caveats at an alarming rate. Habitat shifting is one response to climate change and habitat destruction.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

Soon the Mpumalanga Lowveld will be home to the most technologically advanced mambas on earth.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

Southern Cape barley producers are threatening to divert their malting barley to other markets due to poor prices realised for this commodity. Leon Groenewald, a farmer from Riviersonderend and chairperson of the Barley Industry Committee, said the unhappiness is rooted in the fact that SAB prices for barley have remained around 800/t while international malting barley and wheat prices have increased substantially.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

As the land restitution process continues to fall behind target, the Land Claims Commission announced that it no longer favoured settling claims with financial compensation. Chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya recently announced that his officials could not rule out land invasions and the only way to prevent a Zim-like situation was to stop encouraging monetary compensation for rural land claims.
Issue date: 28 September 2007

A KwaZulu-Natal farmer's neighbours have handed him his marching orders. Jaap de Villiers (76) of the farm Uitval just outside Vryheid is considering legal action following an eviction notice and resulting intimidation of his workers by a group of demonstrators.
Issue date: 28 September 2007