ARE THE LAWS HELPING?

Farm evictions continue to divide opinion - agricultural unions argue evictions are either legal responses to changing business conditions or isolated unlawful acts, and land activists insist complaints of abuses keep flooding in. Stephan Hofstätter spoke to Peter Moatshe, chairperson of the parliament's select committee on land and environmental affairs, after he chaired a heated parliamentary debate on this issue.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Meat and livestock farmers in trouble?

Sharp increases in prices have a psychological effect on market participants. This is true for share prices and also for agricultural prices. Increasing prices create a feeling of well-being amongst market participants. They soon believe that the price increases will be permanent.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

What’s happened to after-sales service?

Following a Farmer's Weekly article about trading in 'grey' tractor parts, Roelof Bezuidenhout writes that warnings about the risks associated with cheap imported engines could pale into insignificance against the damage that poor after-sales service from local suppliers does to a client's confidence and patience.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

A mighty Challenger for the top-end tractor market

The new Challenger four-wheel-drive articulated tractors made their European debut at this year's Sima show in Paris in March. The four tractors in the MT900B series range from 320kW to 425kW (459kW with power reserve) and are currently leaders in the power competition at the top end of the agricultural tractor market.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Fulvic acid passes the fertigation test

Fruit farmer Ian de Kock of Harmonie farm near Montagu in the Western Cape, says the use of fulvic and amino acids has improved crop health, yields and fruit quality while reducing the dependence on fertiliser.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Gauteng agriculture is going great guns

To most people Gauteng would not bring to mind the image of lush crop fields or technologically advanced agriculture. Yet the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE) has a range of projects that aim to promote economic growth and job creation, fight poverty and build strong, sustainable communities through agriculture.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Pioneers of SA marron production

For seven years Vaughn Bursey and John Tinley (above) of Smiling Valley Aquaculture have pursued and persevered their passion for aquaculture by farming marron freshwater crayfish. Mike Burgess visits them to find that this year - thanks to the knowledge gleaned from years of trial and error - they expect to produce up to 80 000 juveniles and 1 500kg edible marron from their 1,2ha of ponds

SA dairy farming- not all doom and gloom

Poor profitability due to high input costs and low producer prices is having a devastating impact on South Africa's dairy industry, causing almost 30 producers to leave the industry per month. Producers are even slaughtering dairy cows, as meat has become more profitable than milk. However, a survey by David Beca, managing director of Red Sky, has shown that South Africa's dairy profitability compares favourably with that of New Zealand and Australia.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Merino rams join communal flocks

More than 3 000 quality-bred Merino rams are being distributed to 300 shearing sheds in an effort to add value to communal flocks in the former Transkei and Ciskei
Issue Date 16 March 2007

‘Biofuels industry needs co-ops’

For the biofuels industry to succeed, emerging farmers need to be organised into cooperatives so that they can jointly deliver to biofuels plants, negotiate good input prices, have access to credit for inputs, training, materials and jointly own the processing facilities. This was the message from National African Farmers' Union president Motsepe Matlala at a recent conference in Johannesburg.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Agriculture database goes live

In an effort to make agricultural knowledge and marketing tools more widely - and cheaply - available, the Department of Agriculture has launched an online database containing information on aspects such as pricing, legislation and marketing.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Elephant culling proposed as a last resort by DEAT

Enironmental affairs and tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has proposed that culling be used to reduce the size of an elephant population - but only once other management options have been considered.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Jumbo ‘mother’ steps down

Dr Marion Garai, the “mother” of Elephant Management and Owners' Association (EMOA) has stepped down after 12 years as chairperson.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Weaker rand boosts wool

The local wool market edged higher due to A SOFTER currency and the return of the Chinese to the market after their New Year celebrations. Prices for good-quality wool again achieved good prices as a result of the big offering of poorer-quality wool in Australia due to the prolonged drought, said Johan Louw of Cape Mohair and Wool.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Evictions – the row rages on

The controversy over abuses on farms was taken to parliament when the Human Rights Commission presented a briefing to the land and environment committee on evictions. Stephan Hofstätter attended the hearing.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

UK to develop ‘green’ labels

The united kingdom has pledged its commitment to developing environmental labelling for food.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Joint biofuels initiative begins

Brazil, the US, China and European Commission recently launched a joint initiative to create a world market to increase the production, distribution and use of biofuels.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Grain forecasts revised downwards

Grain planting and production forecasts have been trimmed for the 2006/07 season after poor rains and high temperatures limited many farmers' plantings.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Parmalat’s BEE milk premium debated

The CEO of the Milk Producers' Organisation, Bertus de Jongh, said he is certain farmers would welcome any price increase, but warned that incentives designed to make farmers meet empowerment targets should be employed through mechanisms other than price.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

Clover opens hi-tech plant in E Cape

Clover recently launched its “state of the art” milk processing plant in Perseverance, between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage. The facility, the first of its kind in the Eastern Cape, will produce fresh and long-life UHT milk.
Issue Date 16 March 2007

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