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A sunflower crop performs well in dry conditions, but will struggle in sandy soils.

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.

Michael Duckitt says that farming Nguni cattle in the Swartland has decreased his farming risks.

The heavy tax burden of the average South African taxpayer is stifling growth at every turn.

Ownership of land in South Africa is a highly politicised and emotive issue. However, were land reform better administered, it could serve as a possible solution to rural poverty in the country. Agricultural Writers SA agriculturalist of the year for 2015, Prof Ben Cousins from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of Western Cape, shares his thoughts on land reform and redistribution with Jeandré du Preez.

Grain SA had made massive strides in addressing the imbalances of the past, with both black and white members working extremely hard to break down the racial divide, said retired Grain SA chairperson Louw Steytler at the recent 2016 Grain SA congress in Bothaville.

Farmers are advised to spend money cautiously until the SA economy shows some direction.

Grain SA has invested heavily in research to ensure long-term sustainable and profitable grain production in South Africa, according to organisation CEO Jannie de Villiers.

Pitso Sekhoto and his daughter Nono farm apples near Senekal in the Free State. The Sekhotos spoke to Gerhard Uys about orchard production, climate change and drought.

An Eskom tariff increase of 9,4% has been approved by Nersa, and could add millions to production costs for stone fruit farmers.

Crossbreeding beef cattle is gaining ground, as SA farmers increasingly value high productivity and low production costs. Prof Michiel Scholtz, head of the Vaalharts Crossbreeding Programme, tells Wilma den Hartigh about the programme’s contribution to the utilisation of crossbreeds.

Commodity organisations are a “great strength” in the agriculture sector and need to drive “constructive change and effective disaster management”, said Bishop Paradise Mahlangu of the National Emerging Red Meat Producers Organisation (Nerpo) at the Agri-SA commodity conference.