Freshwater disaster
The scope and impact of the El Niño-fuelled drought, which is resulting in a food crisis across Southern Africa, has been well-documented by this publication and others.
New generation of farmers wanted
Every farmer can tell you where the best place is to get good mobile phone reception on his or her farm.
Time to declare a national disaster!
The good rains that came before Easter were just enough to cover some of South Africa’s parched areas in a thin veil of green, but the relief was fleeting.
Emerging from a problematic past
This issue celebrates Farmer’s Weekly’s 105th anniversary, as well as some of the agricultural family businesses that have helped to shape the farming sector in South Africa.
Explore agritourism opportunities
Agritourism is by no means a new concept, but it is perhaps a business opportunity that too few South African farmers have seriously considered.
History may repeat itself, again
As a result of the drought ravaging large parts of Southern Africa, South Africa’s national beef herd has been reduced by almost a third.
A future for farming in SA
Working for Farmer’s Weekly, I am often asked whether I think there is a future for farming in South Africa.
Counting the cost of a 1% tax hike
South Africans will soon hear how much more it will cost them to live in SA in 2016.
Farming’s value to society
American poet and farmer, Wendell Berry, writes: “Why should conservationists have a positive interest in farming? There are lots of reasons, but the plainest is: conservationists eat.”
The Bill is back!
The one word that fills many South African farmers with even more trepidation than the thought of payday on the farm echoed through the halls of Parliament again recently, when the Portfolio Committee of Public Works resolved to adopt the latest version of the Expropriation Bill of 2015.
Rounding up the scapegoats
The new year has started in much the same way as 2015 ended – on a spectacular low, with the rand weakening to historic levels against major currencies, little relief from what is fast turning into a catastrophic drought, and the downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating to just one level above junk status.
‘Where does my laughter hurt you?’
I doubt whether there were many farmers – many South Africans in fact – who enjoyed seeing President Jacob Zuma chortle his way through his last parliamentary question-and-answer session for the year.
