Innehållsförteckning för 10 February 2023 från Farmer's Weekly

South Africa's inflation rate reached 7,2% year-on-year in December 2022, and while this was 0,2% lower month-on-month, it was still higher than the target of 3% to 6% set by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Inflation refers to the increase in prices of goods and services, and in July last year, the country reached a peak inflation rate of 7,8%. As a result, in December, we were paying an average of 7,4% more for said goods and services, while the salaries of many South Africans increased by far less than the inflation rate. So, in essence, we are all getting poorer. There are various other reasons for the rise in the cost of goods and services. For example, the skyrocketing fuel prices have certainly added to the burden of…

A central theme in President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) was the government's work in improving the efficiency of physical and regulatory infrastructure aimed at unlocking private sector-led economic growth. This included the establishment of an office that focuses specifically on easing red tape across the different levels of government in addition to the ongoing efforts to address inefficiencies across South Africa's network industries. There is a variety of challenges that constrain general business activity, such as worsening dysfunction in municipalities, which is leading to deteriorating infrastructure, investment and poor service delivery, amongst others, and ultimately, low job creation. In 2021, about 163 municipalities of the 278 municipalities in South Africa were in financial distress, and some were battling to deliver basic services. The inefficiencies in…

Beekeeping in Namibia needs to be put on a sound footing to ensure sustainable, long-term honey production. It is for this reason that Women for Bees Namibia (WFBN) has embarked on a countrywide training and development campaign, according to Gretchen Burmeister, spokesperson for the organisation. She told Farmer's Weekly that approximately 150 women beekeepers were practising in Namibia, of whom 40 were actively involved in the WFBN programme. Their objective was to expand the industry as a means of alleviating poverty and empowering women. “To achieve this, we need to support participants through proper training based on proven scientific data and research,” she said. “While honeybees can be kept successfully throughout the country, extensive practical training in all aspects of the industry is crucial.” She added that very little, if…

Balfour Hay Day recently celebrated its 10th year, attracting a record number of visitors to the small Mpumalanga town. Just over 1 200 people attended the event, which showcased the latest silage and haymaking equipment. Farmer Danie Bester, one of the event's organisers, said that producers in the area were in good spirits, and were looking forward to what should be an exceptional grain season on the back of optimal weather conditions. Balfour Hay Day was launched by farmers in the area, who came up with the idea of bringing input manufacturers together on one day to hold demonstrations of their products. The inaugural event, which was held in 2011, was attended by only 65 farmers, but the day has grown from strength to strength since then. “From the manufacturers’…

The African Development Bank has estimated that farmers in Africa will need as much as US$65 billion (about R1,1 trillion) in loans annually to produce enough food to limit costly imports and cushion their economies from external shocks. According to a report by Bloomberg, the continent imported over 100 million tons of cereals at an annual cost of US$75 billion (R1,3 trillion). It said recent spikes in inflation, including increases in food prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had helped underscore Africa's over-reliance on imports of food staples and agricultural inputs. “A major obstacle to the development of private actors is the lack of credit financing,” the bank said in a statement. Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a shortage of at least 30 million tons of food across Africa, especially…

UNITED STATES The value of US agricultural imports, adjusted for inflation, grew by an average of 4% per annum between the fiscal years 2012 and 2022 (October to September). During this time, total US agricultural imports rose from US$139 billion (about R2,4 trillion) to US$194 billion (R3,3 trillion), HortiDaily.com reported, citing the latest figures from the US Department of Agriculture. Within the broad horticultural products group, fresh fruit was the largest contributor to the rise in imports at US$17,9 billion (R306 billion), growing at an annual rate of 9% over the period and accounting for 15% of total import growth. Key commodities in the fresh fruit group included avocados, berries and citrus, which the US mainly imported from Mexico, Chile and Peru. TURKEY Farmers in the Konya Plain, Turkey's grain-production…

While South Africa's deciduous fruit industry is going through a difficult time, it has faced similar challenges before and will survive the current situation. This was according to Anton Rabe, executive director of Hortgro, who spoke at the Hortgro Media Day recently hosted at Bernheim Farm's tissue culture facility near Paarl. Rabe estimated that it would take another year or two before farmers’ profitability improved. “The industry is repositioning and refining production, packaging and marketing to take full advantage once another profitable cycle starts,” he said. Mariëtte Kotzé, group operational manager at Hortgro, said that the area under deciduous fruit production in South Africa had declined from 56 432ha in 2000 to 53 143ha in 2021, a decline of 6%. Production, however, increased by 60% over this period, thanks to…

There is growing unease about the slow progress in crucial agricultural regulations needed to ensure the sector's success. Unless the regulations are put in place timeously, growth and job creation prospects within agriculture will not be achieved. This was the sentiment expressed by Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, in listing current constraints within the agriculture sector that will have the biggest impact in 2023. He said regulatory problems and the dysfunctional State Veterinary Services were negatively affecting the production of key vaccines. Johan Steyn, a sheep farmer in Mpumalanga, lamented the shortage of life-saving vaccines, and told Farmer's Weekly there was a ‘massive problem’ with Onderstepoort Biological Products:” I have not been able to get the Rev 1 Vaccine for brucellosis since September last year. It's just not available…

Bees may be at risk from exposure to glyphosate, an active ingredient in some of the EU's most commonly used weedkillers, via contaminated wildflower nectar. This was according to new research from Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University scientists. Residues of glyphosate have previously been found in nectar and pollen collected by bees foraging on plants that have been selectively targeted with weedkiller, but this is the first time they have been reported in unsprayed wildflowers growing near sprayed fields. And although glyphosate is intended to only kill plants, it has been shown to harm the digestive systems of honeybees and bumblebees, which makes them more vulnerable to infections, and it may have other negative consequences. Elena Zioga, a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity…

Dirk van der Merwe of Maluvha Carnations in Olifantsfontein, near Centurion in Gauteng, studied architecture at the University of Pretoria (UP). When he married the daughter of mega carnation supplier Geoff Botha, he left his career as an architect to join Botha on his farm. He took a particular interest in farm management, as well as operations, and completed a diploma in business management at the UP's post-graduate School of Business. This gave him a good basic background in how to manage fundamental business challenges, something that later stood him in good stead in the running of his own farm. After Van der Merwe and his wife divorced, his relationship with his father-in-law became volatile, he says. As the relationship ended, so did his work for Botha. However, Van der…

MAKES 16 SQUARES 1 cup cake flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 2¼ tsp ground cinnamon ½ cup white sugar, plus 2Tbsp ½ cup packed brown sugar ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup chopped apple ½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecan nuts • Preheat the oven to 175°C, and grease a 23cm square cake tin. • Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, stir two tablespoons of the white sugar and the remaining cinnamon together. • In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, ½ cup of white sugar and melted butter together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir in…

Dear Prof McCrindle, I have a piece of land on which I want to plant potatoes, carrots, lettuce and some cucurbits. My first task, however, is to deal with a termite infestation. Do you have any advice about how I can eradicate these pests without compromising the quality of the soil? Kind regards, Anonymous Dear Anonymous, Termites are members of the insect family Isoptera and are related to cockroaches. Three genera are found in South Africa: • Woodborers or drywood termites (Cryptotermes spp). These don't eat vegetables; they cause damage to dry wooden poles and structures used in homes. • Subterranean termites (Coptotermes spp). These species are often called ‘white ants’, although they are not ants at all. They live underground in tunnels, and cause the most damage to indoor…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer's Weekly. This is an edited version of an article written by 21 researchers from various universities and institutions, and originally published by ScienceDirect. To read the original article, visit bit.ly/3RajlrS. “Rabies, caused by a negative strand RNA-virus belonging to the genus Lyssavirus (family Rhabdoviridae of the order Mononegavirales), remains of global concern. This vaccine-preventable viral zoonosis is present in more than 150 countries and territories. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies is estimated to cause around 59 000 human deaths annually, with 95% of cases occurring, in Africa and Asia. However, rabies still occurs in other regions, such as Latin America and the Caribbean, Central Asia and the Middle East. Whilst a number…

It has been said, and rightly so, that South Africa must foster a healthy agriculture sector that contributes to its GDP, food security, social welfare, and job creation while adding value to the country's wealth of raw materials. Furthermore, in a troubled global and local economy, the agriculture and food value chain sectors continue to be strong outliers, as they are driven by factors such as population growth and urbanisation. Food production must keep up with these ever-changing trends and distribution methods. South Africa, as a global agriculture and food-producing player, has a highly diversified, market-oriented agricultural economy at the primary production level that includes all major grains (except rice), oilseeds, deciduous and subtropical fruits, sugar, citrus, wine, most vegetables, livestock, and a well-developed poultry and egg industry. Up the…

Population decline in South Africa's biggest agricultural export markets is cause for concern, and young farmers should think carefully about which crops to grow in the future. China registered a population decline in 2022 for the first time in 60 years. According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, the nation was home to 1,412 billion people in 2022, which was 850 000 fewer than in 2021. China now joined a host of other countries, mostly in Europe, that had negative population growth. Russia's population was set to start declining by 2030. Experts warned that if sustained, the trend could pose a problem for the rest of the world, with China, as the second-largest economy, playing a key role in driving global growth. Frederic Neumann, FFSBC's chief Asia…

GHANA Chief Sariki Alhaji Alhassan Iddrisa of the Ga South Municipality recently advised the youth to go into agriculture. During a visit to his mango farm earlier this year, Alhaji Alhassan Iddrisa told journalists he had been able to take care of himself and his family through farming, reported AllAfrica.com. He urged the Ghanian government to team up with chiefs and other stakeholders to acquire land for the youth to engage in farming, and to support young farmers. He further urged banks to support the youth with loans to acquire tractors and other farm inputs. CÔTE D'IVOIRE According to Dow ones Newswires, Dekel Agri-Vision PLC, a London-listed agricultural company, will begin full commercial production at its raw cashew nut processing plant this year after buying a further stake to increase…

Sugar beet farmers in France have said that country's recent surprise announcement of a ban on the use of neonicotinoids has resulted in a breach of trust by the government that could derail France's agriculture sector. This decision was made despite the fact that sugar beet farmers had been exempted from the ban on the use of these pesticides for the past two years. The exemption came about as a result of the decimation of the national sugar beet crop in 2020 due to jaundice disease, which was spread by aphids. A draft decree authorising neonicotinoids for a third consecutive year was submitted by France's agriculture ministry earlier this month, with minister Marc Fesneau telling producers that he expected the exemption to be renewed until 2024. Growers said the government's…

Continued profitability decline at farm level means that 38% of wine producers are farming at a loss, 3% are just breaking even, 50% are generating low profits, and a mere 9% are generating sustainable incomes. This was according to Rico Basson, executive director of Vinpro, speaking at the recent Nedbank Vinpro Information Day held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Basson said net farm income per hectare had been below sustainable levels since 2012, with the gap widening over time, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exception had been in 2019, when market prices were high because of drought conditions. Producer return on investment currently had averaged around 2,4%, which was an improvement on the 1% of 2017, but still not enough to keep producers from…

The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Mpumalanga welcomed prison sentences of between 25 years and 33 years handed down by the Skukuza Regional Court to three poachers last month. Three Mozambican citizens, Lowrene Makamu (28), George Muyanga (50) and Nuru Burros (24), were sentenced following an incident in July 2022 in which they were found in possession of six rhino horns, among other items, near the Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp in Kruger National Park. According to a statement from the SAPS, field rangers received a report from tourists about gunshots heard in the vicinity of the Afsaal picnic spot on 1 July 2022. The section ranger activated his team with the help of a helicopter. A tracker dog was also brought in to assist in tracing the suspects. The…

Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego painted a grim picture of South Africa's post-pandemic economy at the Nedbank Vinpro Information DaY. He said the country's economy had been in a downturn (its longest ever) since December 2013. Moreover, the year 2020 had seen “our deepest downturn in history”. He estimated that it would take three to five years before the economy recovered to 2019 levels, which had, in fact, been a weak year, as the economy grew by only 0,5% at the time. He ascribed the poor economic outlook to international factors, but primarily to self-inflicted damage, such as corruption and rolling blackouts. “Load-shedding could result in South Africa missing the boat of international investment from the expected 2024 global economic upturn,” he said. While it would obviously be better for the…

In findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Saint Louis University researchers and colleagues report that elephants play a key role in creating forests, which store atmospheric carbon and maintain the biodiversity of forests in Africa. Dr Stephen Blake, assistant professor of biology at Saint Louis University and senior author on the paper, and Fabio Berzaghi, of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, documented exactly how the ecology of megaherbivores had such a strong influence on carbon retention in African rainforests. “Elephants have been hunted by humans for millennia,” Blake said. “As a result, African forest elephants are critically endangered. The argument that everybody loves elephants hasn't raised sufficient support to stop the killing. Shifting the argument for elephant conservation toward the role…

We live in uncertain times. During the past couple of years, we have seen how unexpected events can disrupt the economy and our lives. Indeed, uncertainty has become the only certainty. Nonethless, it is still necessary to obtain some indications about future trends in order to help us navigate our way. The global economy recovered well from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the damage caused by the strict regulations, growing by more than 6% in 2021. Growth then slowed down. In April 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected a 3,6% growth for 2022, but this was reduced to 3,2% in the World Economic Outlook update released in October 2022. A number of factors point towards a global recession in 2023. A recent article in The Economist speaks…

LIFESTYLE Frugal Feasts MAKES ABOUT 18 BISCUITS For the biscuits 100g oats 125g almond flour 50g cake flour Pinch of salt 150g castor sugar 80ml canola oil 2 Tbsp runny honey 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 Tbsp boiling water For the topping 80g fresh mango, peeled, pitted, and puréed 125g mascarpone or cream cheese • Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside. • In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, flours, salt and l00g of the sugar. • Place the oil, honey and vanilla extract in a saucepan and gently heat through. • Place the bicarbonate of soda and boiling water in a small mixing bowl and stir until combined. Pour into the oil mixture and gently stir;…

In a recent study, researchers from Bristol Veterinary School at the University of Bristol in the UK have found that a reduced milk allowance can disrupt a calf's ability to focus and learn, and can result in the animal experiencing negative feelings of hunger. According to the university, this kind of study could help to identify farm animal care practices that lead to improved welfare for many dairy calves, the Agriland website reported. Researchers explained that dairy calves were subjected to milk-allowance restrictions when they were weaned. “The researchers expected that the sudden reduction of milk allowance, mimicking what would happen at weaning, would be associated with calves being too hungry to focus on a learning task,” the website said. This hypothesis was put to the test with a hole-board…

This article revealed how the birth of Africa's first test-tube calf opened up new horizons of advantages to dairy and beef breeders. The advent of the test-tube calf heralds a new era in South Africa that makes it possible for farmers to obtain calves from some of their best cows after they have died. Problem breeders or those that don't respond to superovulation can now also produce healthy calves. It is an alternative to the internationally accepted method of embryo transfer that has proved the quickest and most costeffective method of increasing the rate of genetic improvement within a herd. Africa's first test-tube calf is presently thriving on Gunter Meyer's farm Esperance, near Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal Meyer offered one of his Holstein-Friesland cows as a recipient of the test-tube-conceived Friesland heifer…

During a recent visit to Zambia, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there was an urgent need to scale up efforts to make Africa more food secure. According to her, agriculture on the continent faced the costly blow of disruptions from climate change, regional conflicts, the residual effects of COVID-19, and increases in the prices of key farming inputs. Yellen said it was important for the world to take a longterm view in its efforts to assist Africa, where millions are facing food insecurity. “Africa has the potential not only to feed itself but also to help feed the world if the right steps are taken. “Africa's long-term strategy to address food security requires developing its infrastructure and logistics capabilities. The continent needs a robust capacity not only to grow…

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is ramping up funding to support food production and supply chains in Ukraine. The organisation's efforts include clearing farmland of landmines. This emerged during a special meeting for G7 ministers of agriculture at the recent Global Forum for Food and Agriculture held in Berlin, Germany. The website Food Ingredients First reported that an essential part of the forum's agenda was the discussion on restoring alternative grain export routes from Ukrainian ports. “The Black Sea Grain Initiative has been a major theme over the past 10 months, and has seen grain being held up at [Ukraine's] blockaded ports, released in part as the [Russia-Ukraine] war continued to play out in 2022,” the website reported. The FAO had announced updates to its…

Wine export volumes have declined by 5% from 388,1 million litres in 2021 to 368,8 million litres in 2022, while export value declined by 2,4% from R10,2 billion to R9,9 billion, according to the recently released Wines of South Africa Export Report 2022. Siobhan Thompson, CEO of Wines of South Africa, blamed the decline primarily on shipping constraints at the Port of Cape Town, in particular an extended period of adverse weather conditions that prevented ships from docking in April, and a two-weeklong period of strikes in October. The industry, nevertheless, was on track with its premiumisation strategy, with the total price per litre increasing by 2,2%, mainly supported by a 5,3% increase in bulk rand per litre. While this was only slightly better than last year, prices were substantially…

Milk production is a complex business, but add fanning on communal tribal land into the mix, and you're destined to walk a rocky road. Nonetheless, this is the path that several communities, business people and commercial farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal chose to follow in 2004 when they formed Amadlelo Agri, a company that runs dairy farms and helps emerging black producers grow their operations into profitable agribusinesses. In 2019, businessman Simpiwe Somdyala took over the reins as CEO of Amadlelo and restructured the company into a 72% majority black-owned agribusiness. Today, its ownership is comprised as follows: • Tulsacap (46,4% share), a group of black professionals and business people, which includes Somdyala, who pooled funds into the company in 2017; • Amadlelo Milk Producers’ Investment Company (AMPIC),…

Safari Secrets: The Big Five by Gerald Hinde & Will Taylor (HPH, R595) Hinde and Taylor, who have worked together for more than 30 years, have become an acclaimed safari wildlife reportage team. In Safari Secrets, they offer tracking and photography tips that'll have you yearning to head to the bush as soon as possible. Hinde, who took a leap from the family business into wildlife photography in 1990, believes that learning the hard way gave him a solid grounding for getting the most out of modern digital equipment. Taylor has a background as a ranger, and a masters degree in zoology to back up his observations. This book effectively gives a series of workshops on each of the Big Five, plus a bonus of some ‘other fives’, such as…