Innehållsförteckning för 21 June 2024 från Farmer's Weekly

By the time you'll be reading this, we should know what political course South Africa is on. This, of course, follows the general elections on 29 May, which surprisingly (and yet, perhaps, not so surprisingly considering the load-shedding, poor economic growth and bad policy decisions we have had to endure under ANC rule), saw the ruling party lose its majority when the Independent Electoral Board announced that it received only about 40% of the vote. In 2020, the ANC managed to get 58% of the vote, which was significantly less than it had achieved in previous elections. Unfortunately for the ANC and the country as a whole, the party had clearly not done enough to satisfy voters, as the polls in 2024 showed. Even more surprisingly, however, was that the…

While South African agriculture has had a rough start to the year, employment conditions remain encouraging. The latest data released by Statistics South Africa show that employment in primary agriculture lifted by 6% year-on-year to 941 000 in the first quarter of 2024. This was a 2% increase from the last quarter of 2023. Admittedly, the significant drought damage has been concentrated on the summer grains and oilseed regions, not across all agricultural subsectors, which somewhat explains the resilience in job data. Another consideration is that there could be a lag in fully accounting for agriculture's financial pressures resulting from the drought and the impact on employment afterwards. We can observe from the current data that jobs generally increased across most subsectors of agriculture in the first quarter compared with…

El Niño conditions are slowly coming to an end, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicting a 50% chance of either neutral conditions or a transition to La Niña from June to August. The chance of La Niña conditions increases to 60% from July to September and 70% from August to November. The strength and length of the La Niña conditions, however, are still uncertain, and the chance of El Niño developing is negligible during this time. While La Niña is associated with average to above-average rainfall in the summer rainfall regions of South Africa, the WMO warned that naturally occurring climate events were now also affected by human-induced climate change. Ko Barrett, deputy secretary-general of the WMO, said that every month since June 2023 had set a new temperature…

As part of its commitment to environmental and social responsibility, global technology leader Verder Group recently planted 2 000 olives trees, one for each of its global employees, at the Mardouw Olive Estate in Swellendam, Western Cape. The 1 000ha is now planted with over 50 000 olive trees. At an event to mark the planting, managing director of Verder Scientific SA, Richard Hattersley, described how the gesture helped Verder progress towards its sustainability goals. “[The planting of these trees] signifies our commitment to sustainability and our belief in the power of collective action for the greater good. “In partnership with Mardouw Olive Estate, one of South Africa's premier producers of quality extra virgin olive oil, this project symbolises our dedication to reducing our ecological footprint. We have planted more…

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) has welcomed the recent declaration of a state of disaster in that country following the devastating effects of the ongoing drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon. The state of emergency, effective 22 May 2024, was declared by Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba. “The declaration underscores the severity of the situation and serves as a call to action for the private sector, development partners and the international community to assist the government in fully implementing the drought relief programme and safeguarding lives and livelihoods,” Mbumba said in a statement. Namibia's declaration of a state of emergency follows similar declarations by Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In a statement, the presidency said: “The state of emergency exists on account of the natural disaster of drought in all…

Mid-month trends often deviate from traditional patterns because consumer demand is inconsistent, particularly for commodities that are inelastic to consumer disposable income. Typically, there is an upsurge in consumer demand towards the end of the month when consumers get their monthly salaries. Similarly, local markets may adjust prices during the middle of the month when consumption is lower, depending on their stocks, to market more commodities. CABBAGE The average monthly price of cabbage showed a 12,6% increase (see Graph 1), moving between R3 061/t and R3 448/t due to a 12,5% decrease in monthly volumes supplied. The year-on-year (y/y) price was 19,5% higher than in 2023, despite a 25,6% increase in average volumes supplied. Historically, cabbage prices have shown a decline of between R1 500/t and R1 000/t during winter.…

Many farmers would've heard about foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that have plagued local livestock farmers over the past few years. The latest outbreaks occurred in the Eastern Cape and this should concern all farmers and particularly the many communal farmers of the greater region. While the disease isn't necessarily deadly to infected animals, it is viewed as a dangerous livestock illness by authorities worldwide, and outbreaks of this disease will invariably lead to the quarantining that comes with livestock product export bans and restrictions on the transportation and sale of livestock. This creates a problem for those who need to sell livestock in order to cover essential living costs. Even worse is that such disease outbreaks and associated restrictions affect entire value chains: big feedlots might stop buying cattle, feed…

Dear Prof McCrindle, We always have injectable tetracycline on hand for treating our sheep and goats against heartwater, and we also feed this antibiotic in powder form to our household poultry when they are sick. Our vet said withdrawal times must be observed. What does that mean and why is it important? Kind regards, Eddie Dear Eddie, A withdrawal period means the number of days after treatment that an antibiotic given to an animal remains in its organs and intestines. This indicates the length of time that must elapse before you can slaughter the animal or bird for human consumption. Tetracycline-based livestock remedies are available without prescription to farmers throughout South Africa and other parts of Africa. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, in Africa, we have many…

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/3R86Cgk. “To help save the planet, governments across the globe are choosing to adopt sustainable policies and encourage (or coerce) the private sector to do the same. Given the climate crisis, most responsible governments are focusing on finding every possible means to meet existing needs without sacrificing the planet to meet the needs of future generations. In South Africa things are different. Although the country has presented guidelines for a just transition to greener energies, this has not been out of choice, but out of necessity. It is mainly due to the collapse of the country's energy infrastructure, not government leadership or…

The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) has lowered its orange export estimates following a meeting of the Orange Focus Group in late May. CGA CEO Justin Chadwick said the number of 15kg cartons of navel oranges expected to be exported was now 22 million, marking a significant 14,5% decrease from the estimated 25,6 million cartons at the start of the season in April. The new estimate also indicated an 11% decrease from last year, when the country packed a total of 24,8 million cartons of navel oranges for shipping to foreign markets. According to Chadwick, several factors necessitated the adjustment to the current season's estimates. “Local citrus juicing prices are currently high, and many growers are taking advantage of this. Fruit sizes are also somewhat smaller due to…

COFCO International, China's leading food group, received its first consignment of deforestation-free soya beans for domestic use on 31 May. This was a landmark moment for the country, which historically prioritised price over sustainability when it came to agricultural imports. China is a major importer of agricultural products, including beef and soya beans, which are significant contributors to deforestation. However, it has fallen behind Western nations when it comes to the call for produce to be sourced from land that is not linked to deforestation or the conversion of natural habitats to farmland. However, this has started to change. Reuters reports that, according to traders and sustainability experts, state-run COFCO, China Mengniu Dairy Company, and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group have, in the past year, asked suppliers and consultants for…

In my time with the Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO), I regularly showed farmers a graph of how well the primary dairy industry performed compared with other livestock industries. This is unfortunately no longer true. Since 2015, the dairy industry has been falling behind the beef industry. It did however keep up with the sheep industry, where stock theft resulted in many farmers, especially those near metropolitan areas, quitting sheep farming. The increase in the turnover of the wool industry (see the graph below) was caused by higher international wool prices and a weakening rand. Over the period of 12 years from 2010 to 2022, the turnover of the livestock industries grew at similar rates, with the fastest annual growth achieved by the wool sector (13% per year), followed by the…

Focus on drones and apps Fresh produce growers play a vital role in food supply safety, but they face their fair share of challenges each season. From managing pests and diseases and optimising irrigation and nutrition to predicting yields and harvest planning, there are numerous decisions to be made before the harvest can be delivered to the packhouse and sold to different markets. New technologies offer new data sources and platforms, but can also overwhelm the user with information and processes. Aerobotics, a local agritech company celebrating 10 years in the global fruit and nut industry in September, offers a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions tailor-made to help growers, packers and sellers make decisions to improve efficiency and profitability. Aerobotics was founded in 2014 by South Africans Benji Meltzer…

Ammonium sulphate is often used where the soil pH is on the high side. In this form, the ammonia will need to be converted to nitrate before it is released from the attachment to the soil colloids into the soil solution where the plants can take it up. This process will be greatly slowed down in cold conditions, as the bacteria that are responsible for this conversion are rendered inactive in the cold. We also have to consider that all nitrogenous fertilisers have an acidifying effect on the soil. For instance, 1kg of ammonia requires 6kg of calcium to neutralise it. This needs to be taken into account when using ammonium sulphate on soils that are not alkaline. Urea is often chosen as it has a very high nitrogen content…

A recent study by the University of Bonn has shown the important role the plant root system plays in maize production. Over 9 000 maize varieties were analysed during the study, which showed that the roots varied considerably, depending on how dry the location was where each variety was cultivated, according to the website ScienceDaily. The website reported that this gene could be the key to developing varieties of maize that cope better with climate change. For the study, researchers collected maize and teosinte (the ancestral form of all modern varieties of maize) seeds and placed them onto brown paper, which was then rolled into a cigar shapes and stored upright in narrow glass beakers. The results showed how the root structure of maize had radically changed during the domestication…

ARCHIVE Polled Merinos are cheaper to produce and have a higher lambing percentage, among other advantages. However, they do come with their own set of issues. John Kingwill of Grootplaats in the Murraysburg district of the Western Cape wanted to breed a more economical sheep under natural conditions. He settled for a polled ram, the founder sire of his 20-year-old stud. Today he has 215 polled ewes in the stud, as well as a commercial flock of 500 breeding ewes. The polled Merino is not a new idea. A first for South Africa, it was at Richmond in 1912 that CM van den Heever developed a polled flock after reasoning that if horns had no economic value, there was no need to have a Merino with them. In Australia, Gordon…

The ability to measure and report sustainability practices is hindering banks from leveraging green financing to provide better rates for farmers. As ‘licences to operate’ become increasingly dependent on having a light environmental footprint, being able to effectively quantify and communicate these actions is crucial. Johann Kotzé, CEO of Agri SA, told Farmer's Weekly that this was becoming one of the biggest hurdles in the agriculture sector in South Africa. “Our farmers are world class and many are already doing much to reduce their carbon footprints and restore the environment. However, few can quantify and report their status in a way that will translate to benefits like green financing or greater access to markets.” Environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards are making their way into financing policies as banks, too,…

UNITED STATES The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Bovaer, a methanereducing feed supplement, in US dairy cows. This follows a review that found the product was safe for the animals and consumers. According to producer Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, Bovaer suppresses cows’ ability to produce methane during digestion. It added that as little as a quarter teaspoon of the supplement per dairy cow per day could lower their methane emissions by 30%. KAZAKHSTAN In late May, on his first highlevel mission to Kazakhstan, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski entered talks with Kazakhstan Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov on the removal of trade barriers between the EU and Kazakhstan. The opening of the EU market for Kazak dairy, honey and meat products and the exportation of…

Zambia is about to pull itself out of default more than three-and-a-half years after it formally declared itself bankrupt. The country had been a test case for the G20 Common Framework mechanism, leaving some hard lessons for richer nations about how their muchvaunted debt relief plan performed. In 2020, according to the BBC, the copper-rich country became the first African nation to default on its debt payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zambia was burdened by loans and high interest rates that severely restricted the government's ability to invest in critical social programmes and infrastructure development, both crucial for economic growth. Early in June 2024, Zambia's international bondholders voted through their part of a $13,4 billion (about R250 billion) debt restructuring, making Zambia the first to complete a full-blown rework under…

Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo writes in the May 2024 issue of Public Sector Leaders magazine that the focus of agricultural policy needs to be on implementing the responsibilities of the various directorates at the national and provincial levels of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). “The agricultural sector reached an ambitious and unifying vision through the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan [AAMP], launched in May 2022. While some aspects of the AAMP were contested during its drafting stages, it was expected, given the breadth of social partners involved. “Still, most social partners, such as the business community, government, and labour, agreed that the AAMP offered a framework to grow the agriculture and agro-processing sector, build competitiveness, attract more investment, improve inclusion, and create jobs. These…

Note that I wrote this column five days before the election. By the time you read this, the writing will be on the wall. Here's hoping that the wave of good news continues! This time of the year blesses us with beautiful weather in the Lowveld: warm, sunny days and cool nights, with autumn shades of brownorange-yellow breaking through. It's the best season to spend some time in the bush, and this year we chose a beautiful little reserve in Eswatini set on the banks of the Mbuluzi River. Cut off from regular communication, we sat around the fire at night, talking about how glad we were to be shielded from the pre-election negativism that was no doubt flooding the South African media across the border. Back home, catching up…

In an article on page 37 of this issue of Farmer's Weekly, we speak specifically about Aerobotics and the apps the company uses to improve on-farm production and efficiency. However, there are many other apps that have been developed to help farmers improve crop productivity, on-farm efficiency and even marketplace trading. In this article, we list a few more that may be of interest to new and established farmers. SMARTFARM SmartFarm is an innovative app designed for growers and agricultural advisers to help them keep crops healthy. According to the developers, the app enables farmers to effectively respond to disease pressure and determine the optimal timing for applying crop protection products. “Our app integrates advanced artificial intelligence-driven weather models with in-depth knowledge of crops, weather risks and crop protection. This…

Cotton is regarded as one of the most versatile agricultural products in the world. In South Africa, it is a significant crop in the broader agricultural value chain since it is the only natural fibre in that chain, with the fuzzy seed that is used for animal feed being a vital element. Cotton is produced under both irrigated and dryland conditions. In the 1999/00 season, a total of 98 619ha were planted to cotton in the country, but within eight years the total planted area had declined to just over 11 000ha. In 2006, the industry recorded the smallest area planted to cotton in the past 30 years at a mere 6 800ha. During the 2021/22 season, 18 918ha of cotton were planted. A strategic cotton summit held recently at…

SERVES 4 AS A SNACK Avocado or olive oil, for cooking 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 green chilli, chopped 2 anchovy fillets, chopped (optional) 45ml (3 Tbsp) capers 200g packet cherry tomatoes, halved 100g packet Kalamata olives, drained 400g fresh calamari heads and tubes, cleaned and halved Juice of 1 lemon 1 avocado, cubed Handful coriander, finely chopped Salt and pepper Baguette slices, to serve • Heat a good splash of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high and fry the garlic, chilli, anchovies and capers for one minute. Add the tomatoes and olives and heat through. • Add more oil if necessary. Add the calamari and lemon juice and cook for one to two minutes until the calamari is just cooked. • Remove from the heat and stir through…

Small Changes for Big Results by Warren Ingram and Marc Rogatschnig (Zebra, R290) Improving your finances one step at a time could require a similar approach to losing weight, giving up smoking or other habits that you know you need to change, argue the authors of this book. In other words, the reason you're not succeeding might well be you and your ingrained attitudes. Ingram, a certified financial planner who's written three successful books advising on personal finance, collaborated with Rogatschnig, a psychologist who focuses on sustainable behaviour change in business teams, to look at how to apply these techniques to how we handle our money. The outcome is an intriguing book that considers everyone from those who underspend and those who spend to impress, to those who live in…

A smaller volume of 7 156 bales was on offer at the second-last wool sale of the season, with nearly 60% of the Merino wools on offer certified as sustainable. There was an almost even split of longand medium-length wools on the floor, according to Cape Wools SA. The market delivered positive results, and was supported by a weaker rand. All micron categories ended in positive territory, with an overall sales clearance of 89,2%. The non-Responsible Wool Standardcertified indicator increased by 1,3% to close at R149,05/kg, while the Responsible Wool Standard-certified indicator rose by 1,1% to close at R165,80/kg. Major buyers were Standard Wool SA (1 501 bales), BKB Pinnacle Fibres (1 423), G Modiano SA (1 107) and Tianyu SA (1 083). The OVK sale saw 1 297 bales…

HIGHEST: (RAM) R27 500 Oranjeville – The Stelena SA Mutton Merino Production Sale was held on the farm Nooitgedacht on 22 May. The highest price of the day was paid for a ram, which was sold to Hannes Kotzé of Moorreesburg for R27 500. Rams achieved an average price of R12 175. Ewes were sold for an average price of R3 500, while commercial ewes achieved an average price of R2 685. The sale was held by BKB, with Jan Mostert as the auctioneer. – Staff reporter…

HIGHEST: (COLT) R1,02 MILLION Online – Bloodstock South Africa's May Online Auction was held on 7 May. The highest price of the day was paid for the colt Golden Rule by Canford Cliffs out of Takingtheplace, which was sold to PM Racing for R1,02 million to dissolve a partnership. The second-highest price was paid for the mare Seeham by Vercingetorix out of Alderry, which was sold by Al Adiyaat to Form Bloodstock for R403 500. The third-highest price was paid for the mare Saints Alive by Elusive Fort out of Saint Isadore, which was sold by Winterbach Stud to Midlands Equine Enterprises for R320 000. The average price per lot was R76 429. The average price received per lot in 2023 was R22 474. The sale was held by Bloodstock…