Opinion

Agritourism is by no means a new concept, but it is perhaps a business opportunity that too few South African farmers have seriously considered.

I followed the World Economic Forum’s recent 2016 Annual Meeting in Davos closely because of the main theme of this year’s gathering: The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Roelof Bezuidenhout summarises a study by American ecologist, Dr John Carter, and five other researchers, who question the holistic management grazing system’s assumptions about grasslands and how they are grazed.

Now is an excellent time for South African products to enter global markets, according to Prof Melville Saayman, director of Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society at North-West University. He explains why the branding of our agricultural products is so important.

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.

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Working for Farmer’s Weekly, I am often asked whether I think there is a future for farming in South Africa.

Most of us struggle with foreign languages while abroad. Here is the answer.

Many countries in Southern Africa will have to import large volumes of maize to make up for the shortfall caused by the drought in the region. Manager of international trade and investment intelligence at the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz), Tinashe Kapuya, explores possible sources of maize imports and how South Africa will cope with these high volumes.

South Africans will soon hear how much more it will cost them to live in SA in 2016.

To date, I’ve written about many technological marvels that are changing the agricultural landscape bit by bit – from drones, to cloud computing and renewable energy, from water optimisation to virtual fencing.

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.”

Schalk Pienaar, Agbiz chairperson, says that the current drought is by far the worst he has experienced in his 35-year career in agriculture. The effects will have an impact on the entire Southern African economy and consumers can expect a major spike in food prices from August.

Dr Frans Cronje of the SA Institute of Race Relations sets out the policy objectives that President Jacob Zuma should emphasise in the State of the Nation Address to rescue South Africa’s struggling economy.

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.

Weak growth among major emerging markets will weigh on global growth in 2016, according to the World Bank’s January 2016 Global Economic Prospects. Sub-Saharan Africa could face muted growth due to low commodity prices, power capacity constraints and China’s economic slowdown.

When I first walked into the offices of Farmer’s Weekly thirteen years ago, I could never have foreseen the impact that its staff and readers would have on my life. It was just another job, I thought.

BirdLasser makes it easy to record your bird sightings with a central database, says Greg Miles.

Farmer’s Weekly business columnist Peter Hughes reflects on the state of South Africa and the world, and in doing so realises that there’s nowhere else on Earth he’d rather be.

The advent of a new year has done little to lift our spirits. South Africans are worried about our lacklustre economy, student protests and unabated crime.