Denene Erasmus
Denene hails from a sugar cane farm in Pongola, KwaZulu-Natal, but after school she relocated to the Cape Winelands to study, for many years, at the University of Stellenbosch. She worked as a journalist for Farmer’s Weekly since 2009 and in 2015 moved to Johannesburg as Deputy editor for the magazine. In 2016 she was appointed editor, and at the end of 2021, she stepped down from her position to pursue her journalism career.
Co-ops are making a comeback
The farming sector has a long tradition of depending on co-operative models that, in essence, offer groups of smaller or medium-sized farmers the same scale of benefits that would otherwise have been available to only large, corporate farming businesses.
SA farmers need SAA-sized bailout
When agriculture sneezes, the whole economy catches a cold, the saying goes. We saw clear proof of this in 2018, when South Africa experienced a technical recession after the country’s GDP declined during each of the first two quarters of the year due to a massive drop in agricultural output.
‘Farmers must work together to remain profitable’
Farmers can no longer rely on the expected increase in demand for food globally to ensure future profitability. Producer prices would remain flat for some time, and to stay in business farmers would have to increase their profitability margins.
Saving our medium-sized farms
Last year, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the Decade of Family Farming for the period from 2019 to 2028. The purpose of this initiative is to provide a framework for countries to develop public policies and investments to support family farming.
Africa’s swelling population problem
Overpopulation and managing population growth are some of the most difficult subjects to write about.
Years of heightened uncertainty
South Africa ended the year with some good news when fuel prices, which had soared to record highs in November, came down sharply in December, and Statistics South Africa announced that positive performance in the agriculture sector in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018 had helped lift the economy out of a technical recession.
Degrees: a poor indicator of ability
At the end of November, the Twitter feed of South Africans interested in local politics was briefly overrun by the fracas between EFF and DA members of Parliament over DA chief whip John Steenhuisen’s lack of university qualifications.
Vehicle path management: key to reducing compaction
Efficient in-field mechanisation is a major contributor to higher yield and lower production costs. Unfortunately, mechanisation also means that machinery wheels regularly compact the soil. According to precision farming specialist Ian Beecher-Jones, traffic-induced soil damage can be limited by implementing controlled traffic farming.
How long can SA’s farmers last?
South Africa is not an easy place to farm. Even if you ignore the threat posed by radical land reform, most farmers in this country still have to contend with relatively poor-quality soils, erratic rainfall that leads to frequent droughts, tough competition from countries that have better production conditions and state support, and the devastating impact of crime on their businesses and families.
Land reform failure: a strategic plot?
If you have been involved in the farming sector in South Africa for the past decade, you have also probably heard the rumour that state departments are embroiled in a sinister plot to make land reform projects fail on purpose.
Agri leaders respond to recommendation to amend Constitution
The Joint Constitutional Review Committee has adopted a resolution that Section 25 of the Constitution must be amended to allow for expropriation without compensation (EWC).
DAFF’s 1 000 overpaid employees
The high cost of wages for workers in the public service is one of the major uncomfortable truths that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will have to grapple with as he prepares to present the National Budget next year, which will hopefully clearly outline how the country will escape from the trap of virtually non-existent economic growth.
Gloomy SA needs happy farmers
Let’s be honest, living in South Africa can be really depressing, despite our many sunny days, beautiful scenery and generally long-suffering disposition.
Government must learn from farmers like ZZ2 – Mboweni
Rather than take away land currently being farmed by successful commercial farmers in South Africa, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, wants government to partner with them.
SA Treasury cuts GDP growth estimate for 2018 and 2019
Slow economic growth, a widening fiscal deficit, the need to address the high public service wage bill, and restructuring of state-owned enterprises, were some of the key issues contained in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2018 that was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, in Parliament today.
Mboweni set to deliver Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement
South Africa’s latest minister of finance, Tito Mboweni, will have the unenviable task of trying to find at least some good news to share with financially exhausted South Africans when he delivers the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament on 24 October.
Agri SA president clarifies position on land reform
Dan Kriek, the president of Agri SA, has had to weather some harsh criticism this year from within his own organisation, as well as from outside.
Black and white farmers’ fortunes intrinsically linked – Motsepe
Speaking in fluent Afrikaans, billionaire mining magnate, Patrice Motsepe, said in his address at the recent Agri SA annual congress in Pretoria, that he was confident that when South Africans looked back at 2018 in 10 years’ time, they would speak about how they overcame the great challenges the country faced.
Focus on creating work, not jobs
The two-day Presidential Jobs Summit is underway in Johannesburg to find answers to South Africa’s overwhelming unemployment crisis.
A masterclass in irrigation efficiency by Israel
The improvements that Israeli companies have made to drip irrigation have seen them emerge as world leaders in irrigation efficiency. Inventors from all parts of the world take inspiration from them to offer an entire spectrum of innovations that help farmers farm better.
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