Skills training is available

An agricultural skills training model is ready, but government take-up is not forthcoming, says education expert Dr Raymond Sparrow.

Amazing Mauritius

Mauritius really is what it’s jacked up to be. I’m not a beach person and I hate being sat down under an umbrella, smothered with suntan lotion.

Botswana’s hunting ban fallout

Hans Vermaak, president of the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (Phasa), explains why he is worried about Botswana’s looming hunting ban.

A billion mouths to feed by 2030 – time to make a plan

By 2030, the world will have one billion more mouths to feed. To meet this growing food need, we require a sustainable, enabling agricultural environment. Can this be achieved in...

Nothing new under the sun

Boeta, with genetics and genomics being the buzzwords of the century, let me tell you the story of Robert Bakewell, the farmer from Leicestershire who transformed the quality of Britain's...

The broadband revolution

Australia is using broadband to revitalise farming. SA is falling behind, warns Santam’s Gerhard Diedericks.

At the recent National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation’s annual general meeting, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti spoke about the reasons for some of the department’s...

Agri SA to farmers: be realistic, yet positive

The past year in agriculture has been fraught with labour unrest and tense negotiations between organised agriculture and the state. Speaking at Agri SA’s annual congress in Pretoria, the organisation’s...

Yes, but where’s our money?

I’ve tried and tried and tried again to find something positive to blog about this week. I’ve watched the news like a hawk and read every newspaper I could lay...

Managing change – FW de Klerk

According to Charles Darwin, the success of a species is not determined by its relative strength or intelligence, but by its ability to adapt to change. The same applies to...

How to feed 9 billion people

There are seven billion people on earth today. It is estimated that by 2050, this will have increased to nine billion. Aidan Connolly of Alltech and Kate Phillips-Connolly of the...

Askies baas Jannie & voracious appetites

I stand corrected! Grain SA’s Baas Jannie has pointed out that he never implied that Agri SA is jealous of Grain SA.

Farmers must secure their destiny

Addressing the Kwanalu congress last month, chairperson Brian Aitken urged farmers to share their skills with staff and developing farmers. This would help to create greater security and certainty in...

Ranching by the (law) book

Game ranchers are unhappy with the idea of treating certain indigenous species as aliens, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.

Grain SA vs Agri SA

Agh nee man! Why the remarks about Agri SA in the latest Grain SA newsletter? Baas Jannie, you might have had very good reasons for saying that Grain SA’s relationship...

Is this the end of the line for freshwater fishing?

Trout, carp and bass, introduced to SA more than 100 years ago, are now listed as invasive alien species. Fly fisherman Ian Cox talks about the impact of this on...

Game from the veld to the table

Demand for healthy protein has put game meat on the menu. It’s leaner than domestic livestock meat and has other health benefits, says Dr Maretha van der Merwe, consultant to...

Farming is all about making money

Do you think it’s at all possible to take emotion out of the agriculture equation?

GM crops: let sanity prevail

At a recent symposium on the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops, Dr Pieter Mulder, deputy agricultural minister, asked that views on the technology be based on sound scientific facts...

New ethics for a changing game

Rearing high-value game animals under intensive conditions has both pros and cons, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.

Opinion