Indholdsfortegnelse for 24 May 2024 i Farmer's Weekly

The second Africa Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit was recently held in Nairobi, Kenya. During the three-day summit, African ministers of agriculture called for farmers to have affordable access to fertilisers in an effort to enhance food security and improve soil health. Down to Earth reports that the agricultural ministers emphasised the “importance of smallholder farmers having access to reasonably priced fertilisers to boost food production and ensure sustainable agricultural practices.” The summit’s theme for this year was ‘Listen to the Soil.’ At the time of writing, the summit was still ongoing, but it was reported to end with a high-level meeting during which the Nairobi Declaration would be signed, which would outline a 10-year action plan for the improvement of fertiliser use and soil health across the continent, Down…

Dawie Maree, head of agriculture information and marketing at FNB Commercial, has warned farmers to pay extra attention to financial management in the coming months. “Healthy financial management is always important, but even more so now that farm margins are tight, among other factors because of the dry conditions caused by El Niño in the summer rainfall area.” Many farmers, according to him, understood that farming was a long game that required patience, perseverance and strategic planning across all operations. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about their management of finances. “Taking a short-sighted approach to financial planning could be as devastating to a farmer’s livelihood as a flood or drought,” he warned. To survive, he said, farmers had to understand the long-term cycles of their commodities and be…

The Brazilian Cattle Association recently announced a trade mission to South Africa in June this year. The objective of the Brazilians’ visit was, among others, to introduce that country’s Zebu cattle breeds to the local cattle value chain, according to Izabelle Balbi Jardim, a consultant of the association. The delegation to South Africa will include producers of breeds such as the Gir, Girolando, Nelore, Guzerá, Sindi, and Tabapuã. Companies that provide genetic material (semen and embryos), live animals, machinery and equipment and animal health products will also be included in the visit. “The purpose of the visit is to get to know local farmers, producer co-operatives, and companies linked to the livestock sector in South Africa. Our interest is to present the Brazilian Zebu breeds, the benefits of these breeds…

ARGENTINA Argentina’s maize fields has been ravaged by a plague of leafhopper insects, which has created a major supply disruption, that country’s government said in a statement. Farm Progress, an agricultural information hub, added that Argentina was the secondlargest maize producer in South America, and that the infestation was slashing production. According to Argentina’s Rosario Board of Trade, maize production had already shown a downward trend of over 6%. UNITED KINGDOM The United Kingdom’s Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said recently that consumers there could soon be paying much more for bread, biscuits, and beer due to the destruction of crops by flooding. It added that harvests of crops such as wheat, barley and oats had fallen by over 17% this year compared with 2023. As a result, the…

According to De Beer, the inflation-adjusted poverty lines for 2023, which referred to the per person, per month income in rands, included the following: • Food poverty line: R750 per month is seen as the food poverty line and is the amount of money required to purchase the minimum required daily energy intake. The food poverty line is the threshold of absolute deprivation. • Lower-bound poverty line: R1 058 is used as the lower-bound poverty line and points to the austere threshold where a person has to choose between food and important non-food items. • Upper-bound poverty line: the threshold of deprivation below which people cannot afford the minimum food and non-food requirements.…

The global economy shows clear signs of recovery at a faster rate than expected in 2023. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects global economic growth to remain at 3,2% in 2024 and 2025. In the US, growth is expected to increase to 2,7% in 2024, mainly as the result of the stronger growth in the last part of 2023 persisting into 2024. Tighter fiscal and monetary policy will, however, limit growth to 1,9% in 2025. In the euro area, growth is expected to recover from the very low 0,1% achieved in 2023 as a result of the Ukrainian crisis. Recovery in 2024 and 2025 is driven by stronger household consumption as energy prices decreased from the previous high levels. Lower inflation resulted in higher real personal income and increased consumption.…

Aside from doing a soil analysis, there are seven quick ways for farmers to gauge if their soil is in good condition and if management practices are making a positive impact: 1. COVER Soil cover is possibly one of the most important indicators of soil health. Bare soil is a sign that none of the ecosystem processes are working correctly. Soil cover can be evaluated in many ways, but the simplest is to look straight down at the soil surface and see if it is covered or bare. The best way is by green plants. However, the surface could also be covered with dormant or dead plants, plant residue, manure or even rock. As soils get healthier, more of the surface will be covered with green, growing plants. 2. COLOUR…

Climate change has threatened food security around the world, which means more time and money is being invested in research to use technology to change the situation. A team from the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn in Germany has been researching artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture and how it can make crop production more sustainable. The research saw groups of people coming together from different fields bringing with them their expertise. The fields include ecology, plant sciences, soil health, computer science, robotics and agriculture. Hugo Storm, one of the researchers from the university, said in a paper published on Science Daily that in this large-scale project their aim was to make farming more efficient and environmentally friendly using AI. With drones and robotics already used in…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly. This article was first published by The Conversation. Read the original at bit.ly/3wfPFJF. "South African smallholders are abandoning farming. The decline in field cultivation is a problem, since many of these smallholder households struggle to make ends meet. If people were able to produce more of their own food, this would improve their lives. The current situation is a combined effect of the country’s historical legacy and the negative impacts of recent agricultural programmes on many smallholders’ ability to farm. Understanding these reasons is an essential starting point for reversing the decline. This article draws on work reported in three papers published in the journals Geoforum, Agrekon and Journal of Rural Studies. It is…

ARCHIVE Your pigs can drink out of straws quite successfully. Drinking straws have proved to be a simple, cheap and efficient type of drinker for pigs, according to officials of the Division of Agricultural Engineering, Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal. At a recent Pig Development Association meeting in Durban, SH Baxter of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture mentioned drinking straws as being a new type of drinker that was being tried out with a lot of success in Scotland. The officials from Cedara decided to try the idea and they are extremely satisfied with the results. A drinking straw is exactly what the name implies. It simply consists of a 100mm length of 20mm galvanised piping welded into a 38mm supply pipe into which a hole has been drilled to just…

In the latest edition of its Essential Food Pricing Monitoring (EFPM) Report, the South African Competition Commission took a deep dive into the canned pilchards value chain. According to the report, consumers have shifted their buying patterns in search of more affordable foods. In response to rising food prices, the demand for canned pilchards increased markedly. There is evidence that producers and retailers have absorbed some of the cost increases throughout the canned pilchards value chain. This cost absorption is likely to support the continued affordability of this staple food, according to the authors of the report. “While chicken is still South Africa’s favoured protein source, canned pilchards have gained renewed popularity as consumers adjust their food expenditure in response to the rising cost of living and the effects of…

Biosecurity has become like a buzzword, preached at many farmers’ days, in the agricultural media and during conversations at many meetings. Despite this, the livestock industry is failing dismally in controlling important diseases in the country, Dr Faffa Malan, who compiles the disease reports of the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVasa), told Farmer’s Weekly. He pointed out that farmers who were serious about the disease status of their animals were surrounded by herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats on farms that tested positive for diseases like brucellosis, trichomonosis and sheep scab, as well as water contaminated with cryptosporidiosis and E. coli. According to the latest disease report, covering March, bovine brucellosis was reported in Mpumalanga, the North West, Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape;…

The Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Dr Ivan Meyer recently officially reopened the Provincial Veterinary Laboratory in Stellenbosch, which was upgraded and renovated at a cost of R25 million. “This is a moment of celebration. The reopening of the laboratory builds on our already strong foundation and commitment to strengthen our capacity to respond to the needs of the agriculture sector. The upgrade and renovations usher in an enhanced level of government services to the agricultural sector,” Meyer said. The lab, which celebrates its 51st anniversary this year, has a nationwide reach and plays a significant role in biosecurity. Meyer pointed out that roughly 26 000 tests were performed each month, with at least 55% of the annual tests conducted for clients outside the Western Cape. Currently, the laboratory offered…

A recently released report shows that Zambia will need more than US$900 million (about R16 billion) in humanitarian assistance to reverse the impact that the El Niño phenomenon has had on the country that has left citizens, mainly in rural areas, without access to food. According to the country’s Vulnerability Assessment Report (VAR), an amount of ZMW23,5 billion (about R16,03 billion) was needed to effectively implement various recovery action plans. Of this amount, ZMW13 billion (R8 billion) was needed for immediate food assistance. President Hakainde Hichilema, in a live broadcast on national television, said the country needed ZMW532 million (R780 million) for nutritional needs to protect the well-being of children under the age of five years old, lactating mothers, and pregnant women. In February, Hichilema described the country’s situation as…

South Africa Wine, the South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, Stellenbosch University, and the Chenin Blanc Association recently launched an initiative to advance the prominence and economic viability of South African Chenin Blanc. The collaborative effort, titled Premiumisation and Value Growth of South African Chenin Blanc Wine, is spearheaded by a team of academics under the leadership of Professor Melané Vivier of Stellenbosch University, and co-funded to the value of over R4 million over three years by the South Africa Wine and the National Research Foundation. Gerard Martin, research, development and innovation executive at South Africa Wine, said the economic sustainability of wine producers in South Africa faced significant challenges, necessitating value growth in bulk and packaged wines. “The initiative was designed to tackle these obstacles head-on through multidisciplinary…

Africa needs an effective emergency animal disease plan to remain competitive, according to Zambia’s livestock and fisheries minister Makozo Chikote. According to the minister, Africa has faced challenges in exporting goats, cattle and a variety of other animals to the international market due to not having a credible and internationally accepted emergency preparation plan in place. This included management and planning for transboundary animal diseases (TADs). The National Library of Medicine, an American resource centre, said that the current international approach to management of TADs is based on the assumption that most of the diseases can be eradicated. Chikote said in sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern Africa particularly, eradication of most TADs was impossible due to a variety of technical, financial and logistical reasons. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the…

Despite the prevailing dry and hot conditions, production of most summer grains in South Africa was revised upwards from the previous estimate, as indicated by the Crop Estimates Committee’s (CEC) third production forecast for summer crops. Although local wheat production started on a positive note, the CEC said in its 2024 Intentions to Plant Winter Cereals report that producers were expected to reduce the area planted for wheat. On a global scale, analysts anticipate a shift from recent years’ shortages to a surplus in the market, a trend that is exerting downward pressure on Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) prices year-on-year (y/y). MAIZE As the Southern Hemisphere maize production season concludes, market attention has turned towards prospects for the 2024/25 Northern Hemisphere production season that commenced in April and is…

Nitrogen is needed to build soil organic matter for a healthy soil, but too much nitrogen can also cause problems in crop quality. To minimise nitrogen application, the following factors need to be considered: • Water management plays a critical role in optimising nitrogen use efficiency (NUE); • Cover crops are a good way to absorb excess nitrogen in soil; • The optimum NUE is specific to each crop - almonds on a mature tree, for example, can recover up to 90% of the nitrogen applied; and • Deficiencies in other nutreients such as zinc, manganesa and copper can negatively impact NUE. SOURCE: YARA…

The Test Book by Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tschäppeler (Profile Books, R355) Whether you plan to sit the elections out around a braai or a TV, you can take quick breaks to fill out at least some of these 38 tests that promise to lead you to success. Krogerus and Tschäppeler have a good track record in sizing up business trends and corporate coaching, then distilling it in a series of bestsellers. Here they reach both to the empowerment workshops and to those for whom an invitation to any test is clickbait at its best. After all, most of us want to know how emotionally intelligent we are, how well we handle money, whether we’re generous, creative or self-motivating. On the other hand, your colleagues might like to snigger over…

The fifth mohair sale of the summer season saw 164 096kg on offer, of which 85% was sold, according to Mohair South Africa. The offering consisted of good-quality mohair, with 80% being Responsible Mohair Standard-certified. The rand traded 1,5% stronger against the dollar compared with the previous mohair sale. Not all buying houses were active, with the topmakers purchasing most of the hair. Demand for mohair declined during the two weeks since the previous sale, negatively impacting the competition on the auction floor. The average market indicator decreased 5% in rand terms and 4% in dollar terms from the previous sale to close at R381,11/kg. A highest price of R900/ kg was paid for a 23-micron bale of super-style kid mohair, produced by PF Webber and bought by VBC. The…

Dear Prof McCrindle, How is government going to help small-scale livestock farmers? Kind regards, Daniel Dear Daniel, The South African economy is already showing signs of strain and it is getting harder and harder to feed rural families, particularly if you are a small-scale farmer. Employment in the agriculture sector is becoming difficult as commercial farmers are minimising fulltime employment opportunities. They rather employ part-time labour when harvesting crops or loading livestock for sale. Many manual labour opportunities have become mechanised, and the machines for harvesting crops are hired rather than purchased. For small-scale farmers, this is neither economical nor practical. So it is better to rely on manual labour, which means families should work together, with mothers and fathers, uncles, aunts and children assisting with livestock care, planting or…

Macadamias have come under the gaze of the world’s best chefs as the nut has been included on the ingredient list of the Chaine des Rôtisseurs International Young Chefs Competition. The renowned Chaine des Rôtisseurs International gourmet organisation hosts the annual competition in a celebration of culinary talent and innovation. It is open to chefs under the age of 27, each of whom is given an identical box of ingredients from which they must prepare a dish for four people. There are regional, national, and international rounds, giving chefs a good opportunity to showcase the nuts to a wide audience of gourmands. “It also provides the ideal opportunity to place macadamias in the spotlight as a sought-after, versatile ingredient for gourmet dishes,” according to Jill Whyte, chairperson of Green Farms…

The UK seeks to introduce legislation that will make animal welfare labelling on meat packaging mandatory. While this is in line with global trends towards more transparent food systems, much work still need to be done around setting standards for terminology and consumer education. Two proposals on food labelling and fairer food labelling were currently being discussed by the UK government following a public consultation process. This included labelling pertaining to country of origin and animal welfare labelling relating to methods of production. If implemented, these food labelling regulations would apply to imported and domestically produced products. Logan Clow, agriculture specialist at the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, noted that the implementation of these final regulations was not expected to come into force until early 2026. “The UK…

United States cherry growers are facing new challenges due to the changing weather. “Cherry farmers have experienced economic losses in recent years due to climate change, the crop’s limited geographic range, and the fruit’s inability to stay fresh in storage,” the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement. It added that cherry growers around the country were granted emergency loans in March this year as multiple areas were designated natural disaster areas as a result of the excessive heat in 2023 and at the start of 2024. Growers were offered up to US$500 000 (more than R9,3 million) to offset their losses, and the funding came when it was most needed, the USDA added. Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, said in a statement…

A partnership between Nedbank Commercial Banking and Partners in Agri Land Solutions (PALS) HAS launched a new company, Pele ea Pele, which has acquired farms that will produce food items for fresh markets. Pele ea Pele acquired two farms in Piketberg in the Western Cape with two shareholders: 100% blackowned Tsepong, which holds 51% of the shares, and Knapdaar Agri, which owns the remaining 49%. At the launch held recently in Piketberg, the companies said that the farms were being “developed into irrigation farms to produce bulb onions for the fresh market and under contract for Klein Karoo Seed Production, and potatoes for the fresh market and under contract for Simba, as well as rooibos tea”. Nedbank provided the finance and the financial expertise to optimally structure and enable the…

Hortgro Pome and Hortgro Stone recently founded the Hortgro Legacy Foundation to improve the sustainability of the pome and stone fruit farming communities by unlocking donor funding and related contributions to augment traditional funding. Nicholas Dicey, Hortgro chairperson and Hortgro Legacy Foundation trustee, said industry organisations needed access to alternative income streams to negotiate rapid change. “The Hortgro Legacy Foundation is in no way a duplication of existing structures. “The focus will be on raising funds to support research and development, technological development, and humanitarian welfare within the sustainability sphere. “We know that a strong agriculture sector will help create rural stability and socio-economic development – something our country desperately needs.” Anton Rabe, Hortgro executive director, added that commodity organisations had to compete globally in a rapidly changing world, and…

Regenerative agricultural practices hold many benefits for farmers and the environment as it creates a healthy, resilient system where water and nutrients are fully contained in the soil, providing a stable food source to plants. The key principles of regenerative farming rest on enabling plants to form a symbiotic relationship with soil microbes. Plants release compounds from their roots that feed the soil microbes, which in turn then supply the plants with essential nutrients. Often, nutrients that are in a form plants are unable to absorb are broken down into an easily absorbable form by the microbes, making them essential to proper plant nutrition. These processes are however interrupted by synthetic inputs like fertilisers and pesticides. Plants stop producing root exudates and instead absorb the artificial fertiliser. Soil microbes lose…