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Developing an independent seat is crucial for horse riding, says Dr Mac. This means you need to learn to balance without using your hands, and relying only on your legs and core muscles.

Technological advances are making it easier to weigh livestock and use this information to influence herd management decisions. Glenneis Kriel spoke to a number of experts about the advantages of weighing livestock regularly.

First, the bad news: if you are starting a small vegetable farm, you will have to wait several years before nutrient recycling takes place in the soil.

With bee populations dwindling globally, beekeepers are looking for ways to improve the resilience of their colonies. Albertus van Zyl spoke to Glenneis Kriel about how he achieves this.

Food and farming are increasingly gaining prominence on national and international economic, political and research agendas.

Digital technology can make food markets more efficient and inclusive. However, according to a recent report, the digital divide places farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions at risk of being left behind.

Very few family farming operations transition effortlessly from one generation to another. The process requires careful planning, hard work and a lot of patience. Annelie Coleman spoke to several experts about the factors that drive success, and found that timeous succession planning, a family constitution, and a willingness to allow new entrants topped the list.

Agricultural machinery company STEYR, in co-operation with Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is developing an ‘intelligent’ tractor wheel equipped with an ultrasonic sensor that ensures optimised tyre pressure at all times and hence reduces compaction.

South Africa’s water scarcity and the necessity to import well over one million tons of wheat annually mean that the country’s winter wheat growers increasingly have to optimise their water-use efficiencies. KwaZulu-Natal farmer Egon Zunckel spoke to Lloyd Phillips about his family’s own efforts to achieve higher wheat yield from less water.

Kgomotso Bantsho has been farming Bonsmara cattle and goats full-time in North West since 2017. He says that support from other farmers is critical, and that each farmer needs to learn which management practices will work best for him or her.

I have become more and more conscious of how many farmers fail to appreciate the importance of soil quality. More is made of land preparation and fertilisation than improving the soil’s organic content and structure to increase water penetration and retention, reduce disease and save on fertiliser.

Tackle your annual budget from scratch, and you’ll discover many things about the finances of your business that you have never noticed before.