Climate change data cannot be faked
Now that all the most crucial changes on South Africa’s political landscape have come to pass, we can turn our attention for a moment to those challenges that will not...
Animal welfare: are consumers wilfully ignorant?
Wilful ignorance is when people consciously avoid information. Many studies have documented consumer attitudes toward farm animal welfare, but few have questioned whether people really want to know how farm...
Land audit reveals no great insight
Since land ownership, and agricultural land ownership in particular, remains one of South Africa’s most contentious issues, we should ideally have clear, independent and accurate data available to inform any...
A letter to farmers in drought-stricken regions
It’s a feeling anyone who has grown up on a farm knows well: the excruciating helplessness of looking out over your parched veld or crops and watching rain fall from...
Global hunger: the price we pay for food
In poorer nations, buying the ingredients for a single meal can use up a significant portion of a person’s earnings. Where there is conflict or economic collapse, it can exceed...
Uncertainty is the new normal
Try to think back, and ask yourself if two years ago you would have believed that a global first-class city would run out of water, or that a US president...
Do we need a new way to measure our prosperity?
Claims have emerged that institutions such as the World Bank are ‘doctoring’ the methods they use to measure food security, competitiveness and other factors in developing countries.
Ramaphosa’s land reform problem
The general feeling of relief that South Africa’s business community may have felt when it was announced that Cyril Ramaphosa had won the ANC leadership race was short-lived for those...
Agriculture is changing and so must agri economists
It’s not only farmers who have to adapt to the fundamental changes occurring in world agriculture, or go out of business. Agricultural economists also have to adapt. This is the...
The one thing that can destroy SA
At the end of last year, two reports were published that exposed findings so disturbing that if this knowledge does not spur South Africans into action to save the country’s...
Black youths must be made aware of agri sector careers
In his BCom Hons research paper, Mlungisi Mama examines why so few black youths are interested in agriculture as a career. His conclusion is that they believe the sector comprises...
We all want land reform. Let’s make it work!
Meaningful land reform is crucial, not only to allay the farming community’s fears, but to help restore the economy and benefit South Africa’s poor.
Farming: A labour of love
At Farmer’s Weekly we focus mostly on the ‘how’ of farming and provide a steady stream of practical information that can help farmers improve the efficiency, sustainability and profitability of...
How Africa can emulate India’s agricultural success
India’s self-sufficiency in grains is no accident. In the 1960s, in response to food shortages, the country began systematically modernising its agricultural sector. This was achieved through government subsidies, research...
Agriculture needs a confidence boost
The past two years have been tough for the local agricultural sector, and the strain that farmers and agribusinesses have been under is really starting to show.
Addressing agrochemical residues on fresh produce
The use of agrochemicals in the commercial production of fresh produce is widespread in South Africa and elsewhere. However, according to Tom Murray, technical manager at Woolworths, retailers realise that...
FARMTALK: we want to get to know you better
Farmer’s Weekly has been proudly serving the Southern African agricultural sector for the past 106 years, and one of the reasons why we have managed to keep going for over...
Politics and farming are intertwined
As the political situation in Zimbabwe started heating up in mid-November, Farmer’s Weekly published a news story on its website about how the departure of President Robert Mugabe may affect...
The role of ‘human error’ in climate change
Speaking at a technical information day hosted by the Dried Fruit Technical Services and Canning Fruit Producers’ Association, environmentalist Dave Pepler focused on individual responsibility in terms of climate change...
Reap returns on investments by ‘farming the markets’
Farming the markets’ originates from the analogy that exists between personal finance (investing) and farming.
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