Diversity and direct marketing drive a small farm’s success
On a small piece of land in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, Alan and Belinda Stewart have built a diversified enterprise that produces vegetables, eggs, and cheese, taking their harvest directly to customers through a farmer’s market and home deliveries. Their journey offers lessons in diversification and building demand, proving that even a modest footprint can yield a sustainable livelihood.
Forgotten springbok migrations of the Great Karoo
The Great Karoo of the 19th century saw the trekking of massive herds of springbok across the region’s arid plains in what was then one of the natural world’s great mammalian migrations. Mike Burgess writes about how these trekbokke defined a region and its people and why they had disappeared by 1900.
BYD rolls out the Atto 2, South Africa’s cheapest plug-in hybrid
BYD has taken aim directly at the Toyota Corolla Cross and Chery Tiggo Cross with its new Atto 2 DM-i plug-in hybrid, writes The Citizen’s Mark Jones.
Testing before planting: why on-farm trials matter for new pome fruit cultivars
With an abundance of new apple and pear cultivars entering the market, producers have more choice than ever but also face greater risk, as performance can vary widely under local conditions. Dihan Blom, pome product manager at Delecta, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about how on-farm trials can reduce this risk.
South African project to explore the hidden value of fungi
Fungi are the engines of soil health, says University of Pretoria mycologist Prof Cobus Visagie. He spoke to Farmer's Weekly about how a better understanding of fungi will give farmers and agronomists a much stronger foundation for conservation agriculture.
Locally developed biochar-rock blend attracts global interest
Farmer’s Weekly in 2024 reported on promising field trial results for RegenR8, a plant growth enhancer combining biochar and volcanic rock, on wheat at Tygerhoek Research Farm near Riviersonderend in the Western Cape. Clayton Postma spoke to Glenneis Kriel about the latest developments with the product and shared his thoughts on how it is working.
Inside Argentina’s top-performing Angus herd
In south-western Buenos Aires, the Lafontaine family produces Angus cattle with low birth weights but which show extraordinary growth and reach exceptional weaning weights.
