Table of contents for 8 September 2023 in Farmer's Weekly

The 15th BRICS Summit was held in South Africa from 22 to 24 August. Prior to the summit, South Africa found itself in hot water with some of its trade partners, who expressed concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received an invitation for the event. Ultimately, South Africa issued a warrant of arrest for Putin if he were to come to South Africa, as per the International Criminal Court, to which South Africa is a party. Despite the early hiccups, the BRICS Summit seemingly ran smoothly, without any major upsets. Numerous topics were discussed at the summit, including the creation of a regional currency. However, of most significant notice, perhaps, were the discussions surrounding regional trade. Trade between South Africa and the other BRICS countries, which also include Brazil,…

Agriculture’s bull run over the past decade is set to slow down as a downturn in global commodity prices and South Africa’s decreasing competitiveness weigh the sector down. Speaking at the launch of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy’s (BFAP) Baseline Agricultural Outlook for 2023 to 2032, managing director Prof Ferdi Meyer painted a bright picture of the sector over the past three years, but warned of subdued conditions going forward. “Agriculture has been the star of the economy for the past three years, despite so many challenges, expanding by 13,4% and 8,3% in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The combination of favourable weather patterns and the spike in global commodity markets lias fuelled unprecedented growth and continuous private sector investments,” said Meyer. He noted the sector had grown tar…

Savanna elephants have been assessed as endangered on the African continent and additional threats and losses due to human-elephant conflict could further exacerbate the species’ decline. In order to prevent conflict between humans and elephants in South Africa, immunocontraception of elephant cows had been employed successfully by the Humane Society International/Africa (HSI/Africa). Dr Audrey Delsink, wildlife director for HSI/Africa, told Farmer’s Weekly the culling of elephants to control their numbers was an “antiquated, cruel and unnecessary way to deal with elephant population growth”. She said elephant populations were increasingly squeezed into smaller pockets by human encroachment and were dealt with by culling. According to her, immunocontraception was the future of humane elephant conservation. HSI and the Humane Society of the US have funded cutting-edge research on the use of this…

Limited growth in demand for grain is expected to bring tight margins and consolidation in the long term. In the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy's (BFAP) Baseline Agricultural Outlook for 2023 to 2032, projections showed that unless additional demand for grain was generated in feed markets or alternative export markets, further real growth in the value of field crops beyond 2024 was limited. Mmatlou Kalaba, commodity foresight manager at BFAP, said that even for soya bean, one of the most dynamic sectors in recent years, growth could slow as the industry now produced a surplus. “Soya bean processing is set to expand by almost 40% by 2032. Production has grown to the extent that prices are expected to remain at export parity levels. But this introduces the need to…

The transitioning phase and first 24 hours of a calf’s life have a huge impact on their future performance. Adam Geiger, a research scientist at Chemuniqué, listed ways to overcome challenges in this challenging phase at the recent Dairy Management Consulting (DMC) conference, hosted near Durbanville in the Western Cape. Reduced feed intake was the biggest challenge during the transition phase (roughly 21 days pre-calving and 21 days after calving), because it pushed cows into a negative nutrient balance, which compromised immune function and rendered them more susceptible to diseases. To prevent serious issues during this stage, farmers needed to maintain dry matter intake and address stressors that could interfere with it. “Stress not only affects nutrient intake, but inflammation, disease and shock also result in nutrients being used for…

Diagnosing illness in livestock is by no means a ‘perfect science‘; as many illnesses have similar or even overlapping symptoms. You can only be completely certain of a viral or bacterial problem if you have taken an animal that recently died to a vet for a necropsy; the earlier you take such a dead animal for a post-mortum, the better. Generally, a necropsy is pretty good at helping to decipher what the problem is, and the vet will be in a position to advise you on how to treat other animals with similar symptoms. One of the biggest dangers for livestock farmers is a highly infectious disease outbreak with high mortality rates that spreads rapidly throughout the flock/herd. Thus, if more than one or two animals shows disease symptoms, and…

In 2023, Nampo Cape will be celebrating its fourth anniversary. According to Grain SA, the third hosting of Nampo Cape in 2022 was the biggest yet, and 2023 was expected to be even bigger. Nampo Cape 2022 saw 32 640 guests move through the park. The event took place over four days and included 500 exhibitors. According to Toit Wessels, Grain SA's assistant manager for Nampo, mostly good weather conditions ensured a good turnout. "It was wonderful to be able to host Nampo Cape again after an absence of two years [due to the COV1D-19 lockdown]," Wessels said at the time. "However, the positive feedback from the exhibitors in terms of business transactions still remains one of the most important and accurate measures of success, and the exhibitors have certainly…

67 Blankets For Nelson Mandela Day by David Cemmell (67 Blankets For Mandela, R1 167) Fifteen years since the idea of donating time to public service in honour of the achievements and outlook of Nelson Mandela, plenty of social responsibility campaigns have sprung up. One of those with greatest longevity and recognition, locally and internationally, is the 67 Blankets For Mandela campaign. As we’re reminded here, it was sparked by a chance remark that became a challenge set by Zelda la Grange, Madiba’s former assistant, and Carolyn Steyn, at whose home he stayed in the early days of his post-prison life. Since the campaign was formally founded almost a decade ago, it has produced about 167 000 blankets. Flanked by glorious, bright pictures of these blankets, the text is interspersed…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly. This article was originally published by The Conversation. Read the original article at shorturl.at/DHLX8. “In South Africa, an estimated 8 000 lions are bred and kept in captivity for commercial purposes in more than 350 facilities. This is far more than the country’s wild population, estimated at 3 500 individuals. These big cats are exploited in a variety of ways, including cub ‘petting’ tourism, ‘canned’ trophy hunting (where the lions are hunted in small enclosures with no chance of escape), live exports, and the supply of body parts for use in traditional medicine. This is despite ongoing controversy surrounding the industry, in particular related to reports of animal cruelty and risks to public health.…

51 YEARS AGO 1911 12 September 1972 2023 Dryland ryegrass-clover pastures are the cheapest way of producing milk. In addition, the age-old fear of bloat from this forage has been partly dispelled because it is generally acknowledged that there are several ways of solving the problem. This is the opinion of Bob Chetwin, farm adviser of the Farm Costing and Advisory Service. This service, based in Pietermaritzburg, analyses the records of many farmers and has helped most into more profitable undertakings. The recommendations made in this article are the deductions drawn by Chetwin from the analysis of Natal and East Griqualand dairy farms. It is widely held that irrigated pastures produce the cheapest milk, but it costs R260 to install irrigation for, and grow, a hectare of ryegrass. For this…

More than 70 days have passed since the DA implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a commission of inquiry into farm attacks and murders. According to Noko Masipa, DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Ramaphosa has ignored the DA’s submissions. The DA had asked Ramaphosa to use his authority in terms of Chapter 584(2) (f) of the Constitution, which empowered him to appoint commissions of inquiry, to investigate the root causes of farm murders and attacks in the country. Masipa said the inquiry would have the mandate to make recommendations and advise on a comprehensive plan to safeguard farming and rural communities against criminal activities. “Since submitting our formal request for a commission of inquiry, statistics show that 16 farm murders have been registered between May…

The livestock sector has shown remarkable growth, but the future is unclear as the industry grapples with load-shedding and subdued demand from cash-strapped consumers. At the release of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy’s (BFAP) Baseline Agricultural Outlook for 2023 to 2032, speakers noted that growth projections for the coming decade were balanced on a knife’s edge. The current energy crisis had severely affected intensive feed operations, said Dr Tracy Davids, director and manager of commodity markets and foresight at BFAP. “Instead of investing in improved technology and expanding operations, firms are investing in alternative electricity generation to keep production going,” she added. Domestic consumption growth was expected to slow due to weaker spending power and an ageing population. Selekane Motadi, a researcher at the Faculty of Health Sciences…

Getting synergies in favour of agriculture was the theme of the panel discussion held during the Agri Western Cape annual general meeting in Cape Town recently. Jaco Minnaar, president of Agri SA, said one of the challenges when negotiating with government was that it consisted of a municipal, provincial, and national level, and each of these had their own unique functions to fulfil. “You can’t negotiate and influence on a national level and think these would spiral down to ground level,” he said. Minnaar also emphasised the importance of trust, the use of databacked arguments and honesty in negotiations. “Don’t say agriculture is unprofitable when it is, and don’t make strange promises to unlock short-term gains. We need to have a long-term vision and use this to guide negotiations,” he…

Bangladeshi traders are feeling the effects of India’s 40% duty tax on the export of onions. The Department of Agriculture in Bangladesh said that as a result, the price of onions had gone up significantly in the middle of August. According to the Indian government’s finance ministry, it had announced the duty tax to stabilise escalating domestic prices and retain stocks. The Bangladeshi government said that while local onion production met domestic demand, onions needed to be imported from India to cover post-harvest losses. The latest tax had forced local Bangladeshi traders to hike their prices to make a profit. In contrast, however, the Minister of Agriculture in Bangladesh, Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, said that local farmers still had relatively large stocks of onions, which meant that the duty would have…

ActionSA recently convened a virtual Agriculture Policy Expert Roundtable on Agriculture, attended by a range of stakeholders, in an effort to understand how to empower South Africa’s agriculture sector. Coming up strongly as a key to propelling the sector forward was fostering and strengthening collaborations between government and the private sector, and working together as partners to increase the benefits of the agricultural industry. The discussion was held to gain insight ahead of ActionSA’s inaugural policy conference taking place from 12 to 14 September. The meeting was facilitated by ActionSA national spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni, with input from Athol Trollip, ActionSA Eastern Cape provincial chairperson, Johan Dreyer, a representative of the agricultural community, Jan Greyling, AgriFood technology researcher at Stellenbosch University, Henri Minnaar, managing director and owner of AgriMentor, Elriza Theron,…

In yearly terms, red meat prices are down, whilst pork and chicken prices are up. Despite the downward price trend in red meat prices in yearly terms, it does seem that beef prices, in particular, are picking up from the low levels apparent in June. We view this as a consequence of reduced load-shedding. Although our views include some more upside scope for red meat prices over the coming months, we are cognizant of ongoing pressures on local consumer income, which could limit the size of price increases over this period. BEEF Beef carcass prices continue to remain under pressure, trading almost 12% lower than the corresponding time last year. Prices have however recovered in monthly terms (see Graph 1), increasing by 1,8% between mid-July and mid-August. This recovery has…

• For combine owners and drivers, some of the most important developments are the factors affecting performance and operator comfort, and much of the progress has been linked to the arrival of cabs in the 1970s and 1980s. • “Enclosing the operator in a sealed workspace allowed equipment manufacturers to offer important developments to manage the cab interior environment with reduced noise levels, dust suppression and airconditioning,” notes Hunt Donnell. • “With the major controls accessible in the cab, the driver can complete the starting procedure and carry out virtually all the operating adjustment without leaving the seat.” • Another important growth area during the past 20 years or so has been information technology: collecting, storing and using data. On some of the latest combines, this can include yield monitoring…

Dear Prof McCrindle, I am a smallstock farmer in Botswana. My goats are aborting at the their late stage of pregnancy. I sought advice from local veterinarians but the situation is not improving. The goats either abort or give birth to premature kids that cannot stand or suck. My goats are in top condition as I feed and fully supplement them with all the recommended minerals and trace elements. Which medicine would you recommend? Best regards, Willie Dear Willie, The most likely reason for the abortions and deaths of newly born kids is brucellosis. You need to contact your local state veterinarian or animal health technician urgently to take blood tests from your goats as this disease is notifiable. Unfortunately, there is no treatment and the positive goats will have…

South Africa’s agricultural export earnings are likely to soften this year from the 2022 record. The lower commodity prices, ongoing restrictions to exports of some livestock products because of the foot-andmouth disease, and the stringent regulations of the citrus black spot disease in the EU market are among some of the factors that are likely to result in lower export earnings. While South Africa’s agricultural exports have remained relatively solid in the first few months of the year, we are expecting the effects of these challenges to be more evident in the second half. Agricultural exports for the first five months of this year were still robust, amounting to US$5,06 billion (about R95 billion), roughly unchanged from the corresponding period in 2022. EXPORT DESTINATIONS The export destinations remained the same…

A record canola crop of 220 000t is expected in the country for the 2023/24 marketing year. Over the past two decades, canola production has increased sevenfold in South Africa. The number of hectares planted to canola has increased by 4% to reach a record 128 100ha. According to a report on local canola production by the Global Agricultural Information Network, favourable conditions and consistent yield growth from advanced cultivars bolstered the expansion of canola production, driven by robust demand due to growing vegetable oil prices. As a result, South Africa started exporting canola because of limited local processing capacity. According to the author of the report, Dirk Esterhuizen, exports were likely to reach record levels in 2023/24. The expected yield of 220 000t was a 5% increase on the…

Public hearings on the newly proposed Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill have concluded in Gauteng and are now moving on to the Free State. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development began the nationwide hearings at the end of May and has already successfully held hearings in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape and Gauteng. The PDAL Bill was introduced in Parliament and referred to the committee on 2 February 2021 and, if passed, would enable government to release more land for agricultural use throughout the country. Participants in the various hearings included residents, representatives of farmers’ organisations, community members, representatives of communal property associations, communitybased organisations, political organisations and business owners. Committee spokesperson Nolizwi Magwagwa said the PDAL Bill sought, among other things,…

SPAIN A drought emergency has been declared in parts of the Catalonia area due to a very hot summer and a lack of rain. The local government announced that the reservoir in the area was less than 20% full and the community was subsequently urged to reduce water consumption. The government said water use needed to reduce by 25%, but authorities were limiting water for agricultural purposes and not human consumption. BRITAIN The latest trend on Hayling Island was reportedly ‘naked photography’, according to local sunflower farmers. Stoke Fruit Farm, which operated in the area, however, had urged visitors “to keep their clothes on” as the area was a familyfriendly zone. Local farmers had received reports of complaints that people had come across nude visitors taking pictures. While most of…

Significant expansion of the area under high-value export fruits and nuts is expected to bring a 30% increase in export volumes over the next decade. However, sustainability of the industry hangs in the balance as export opportunities are at risk. In the Baseline Agricultural Outlook for 2023 to 2032 produced by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), statistics pointed to significant price pressure in many markets, requiring an urgent look into market access, and the upgrading of port infrastructure. Dr Tracy Davids, director and manager of commodity markets and foresight at BFAP, said that infrastructural problems posed a particular concern, as they were mostly state-owned. "This means the country is dependent on government to earn foreign income, ensure effective distribution of product and enable production. New investments in…

Sewer gas is dangerous stuff and can cause a disaster. If trapped, the gas is a bomb in the making. All that’s needed is a spark from a nearby electrical cable, and KABOOM! In December 2021 a building in Karachi, Pakistan, was completely destroyed and 12 people were killed in the explosion. Their municipal authorities seemed to lack the sense of smell, which provides an early warning system of trouble brewing! But as a farmer, you know all about this, don’t you? You’ve always maintained the ‘municipal services’ on the farm, in addition to all the other items needed to keep the business going, such as vehicles, implements, tools, building and the rest. How well are you doing? How often are you experiencing your own ‘disasters’ because of poor maintenance?…

Research papers on regenerative farming have been published from the early 2000s, with some countries making headway in terms of seed production and fertilisers. However, years of research in Thailand materialised in July this year when the first regenerative outcome verified (ROV) rubber made its appearance on the global market. The work behind it was revealed in an article written by Sara Farley, who is the vice-president of the Global Food Portfolio of the Rockefeller Foundation: ‘Without farmers at the center, regenerative agriculture will be a slogan not a solution’. Farley wrote that rubber-tappers and farmers were “transforming a monoculture rubber plantation into a diverse community”, and this came at a time when climate change was taking its toll on the farming community in Thailand. The ROV rubber came about…