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South Africa’s second-largest agribusiness company, Senwes, said poor harvests in the central and western parts of the country over two consecutive years, hit the company’s results hard for the year ended on 30 April 2014.

Look after your donkey and it will look after you, says Prof Cheryl McCrindle.

A wool farmers are benefiting from high international wool prices and a weak rand. But it’s not just the exchange rate that’s in their favour, it’s the top quality of their clip and the fact that local wool is produced in an environmentally friendly manner. Annelie Coleman asked National Wool Growers’ Association chairperson, Harry Prinsloo, why SA wool was so sought-after.

There is a lot of miscommunication about red meat imports from Namibia into South Africa.

The global sugar industry is often slammed for wasting freshwater resources. In SA, sugar farmers and processors have found practical ways to improve water use efficiency.

Emerging beef cattle farmers in sub-Saharan Africa struggle with low fertility and high mortality in their herds. Yet the situation could be improved if farmers were taught the importance of diligent measuring and recording, says Prof Michiel Scholtz of ARC’s Animal Production Department.

The North West Veld Santa Breeders’ Study Group has demonstrated the breed’s efficiency and ability under extensive conditions, confirming its value as a beef breed.

The demand for meat products has grown rapidly during the past decade. The Bureau for Food and Agriculture Policy’s (BFAP) Coordinator: Industry Level Analysis Tracy Davids said this was due to growth in income and improved living standards.

Despite lacking farming experience, Carole Kirkwood Pretorius converted a rundown Karoo farm into a small but commercially viable enterprise in only six years.

Money in the bank could help you through troubled times.

In the first part of our series on grassland management, grassland ecologist Dr Richard Lechmere-Oertel explains that understanding how grasslands respond to burning and grazing is crucial to maintaining biodiversity and sustaining animal production.

The NuGrainSA Consortium introduced pseudo-grains to South Africa in 2013. Plant breeder at ARC-Roodeplaat, Willem Jansen van Rensburg, says that quinoa and grain amaranth are the most promising for local cultivation.