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

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South Coast-based RedBerry Coffee Collective, which now consists of close to 30 members nationwide, is supporting start-up coffee farmers by providing agronomic services to strengthen the existing value chain. RedBerry, driven by Dylan Cumming, of Beaver Creek Coffee Estate, on the KZN South Coast, is building a strong base to increase coffee farming in rural areas, support coffee farmers, and position the country as one of the best coffee producers in the world. “The current demand for coffee worldwide is sitting at around 10 million tons, and this is anticipated to rise to 12 million tons by 2032," Cumming explained. “We have a climate ideally suited to coffee growing and a global demand to be met so our aim is to grow South African coffee farming and produce…

Your puppy should have started training when it was with its breeder. If you adopted a puppy from a shelter, you need to start training it as soon as possible. I’ve been trying to convince local shelters to let me train puppies while they are waiting for a new home, but for some reason they are resistant. A little side note: if you are the owner or a worker at a dog shelter near the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and would like me to come and train the dogs and puppies, I’ll do it for free! Please give me a shout. We all want the best for these dogs, and having them trained would most definitely make them more adoptable. Back to the topic. I am a firm believer in starting training…

Commonly referred to as Verbesina encelioides, wild sunflower contains the toxic compound galegine. It has recently been reported in clinical cases of intoxication in sheep and cattle in several provinces in South Africa, except Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. The same plant has been reported causing similar clinical signs in other countries. No studies have been conducted on the toxic effects of wild sunflower in South Africa. However, there is evidence of wide distribution of the plant. We have embarked on an investigation to determine the concentration of galegine in different geographical localities in South Africa. To measure the concentration of galegine, the identification and collection of the plant material is needed. Therefore, we appeal to farmers and people in the field to assist with plant collection (aerial parts of 10 plants…

LIFESTYLE Frugal Feasts 1,2kg pork belly Vegetable oil for deep-frying 2 chopped onions 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 cup chicken stock For the sauce: 1 cinnamon stick 4 cloves garlic 2 star anise Salt and pepper to taste 2 Tbsp sugar 3 Tbsp dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp light soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish sauce 1 tsp coriander ½ tsp Chinese five spice Salt and pepper to taste 1 Tbsp honey 2 cups of grapes • Pour hot water over the pork belly and set aside for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and using a kitchen towel or cloth, tap the meat dry. • Score the pork belly into strips of around 2cm. • Deep-fry the pork belly in vegetable oil until crispy on the outside, and then cut…

Hillbilly Homes LIFESTYLE Dear Jonno, Now it’s our turn and I know you can help! We are looking to build a comfortable three-bedroom home in the Eastern Cape. My heritage extends to the early Settlers, so in a way we are going back to the start of the path they forged. Our site is close to one of the earlier towns, with beautiful mountains in the background. We want a traditional home; nothing too fancy though. We need to build in stages, and for now the home will need to have two en-suite bedrooms on one side, with a regular lounge-dining room and open-plan kitchen attached. Additionally there should be a study that is big enough to accommodate visitors. At a later stage we want to include a guest bedroom,…

PANETTONE In South Africa, most major retailers sell panettone in the lead-up to Christmas, and it has become known as a cake to enjoy in the festive season. Panettone originated in Milan, Italy, and dates back to 1495. According to food solutions group Puratos, it was created when the Duke of Milan hosted a luxurious Christmas at his home. But the planned dessert was burnt and a young cook, named Toni, came up with a plan to save dessert: a rich brioche bread, filled with raisins and candied fruit. The duke reportedly loved it, and so the tradition of Pane di Toni was born. But the story doesn’t end here, and in 1821, panettone “became a symbol of liberty” in Italy, says Puratos. “Red candied cherries and green-coloured citrus replaced…

AUCTIONS TO PLACE AN UPCOMING AUCTION EVENT in the Classifieds Auctions section, contact René Moonsamy on 010 971 3771 or at renea@caxton.co.za. TO LIST AUCTION RESULTS in this section, email Janine Ryan at janiner@caxton.co.za. Market Report Superior mohair at penultimate sale of the season The second-last sale of the winter season saw 139 749kg on offer, of which 92% was sold, with good competition among buying houses for the stronger segments. Ninety percent of the lots on offer were Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) certified. The price difference between RMS and non-RMS jumped from 10% to 15%. Mohair South Africa’s average market indicator increased 3% in dollar terms compared with the previous sale to close at R330,17/kg. The highest price of R718/kg was paid for a 25-micron bale of super kid…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly. This article was written by Elhadj Bara Dème, research associate at the University of Portsmouth, and Prof Pierre Failler, director of the Centre for Blue Governance at the University of Portsmouth, and was first published by The Conversation. Read the original at shorturl.at/CJPQ2. Plastic pollution is an urgent environmental issue, globally. Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans. Most of the 17 West African countries have a problem managing plastic waste. Eight of them are among the top 20 with the least effective plastic waste management practices – up from five in 2015. This has worsened marine pollution and adversely affected activities in the region. Coastal provinces account…

‘WHALES HAVE A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY IN THE OVERALL HEALTH OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT, HELPING TO CAPTURE CARBON FROM THE ATMOSPHERE’ – Pavitray Pillay, WWF-SASSI manager of WWF SA, on whales being entangled in the ropes used on offshore, rope-grown mussel farms (pg 15). ‘Hardly a week goes by that I do not lose animals to stock thieves. This has had a dire impact on my business’ – Pieter Gouws, a livestock producer from Mareetsane in North West, on the prevailing scourge of stock theft in the country (pg 16). ‘Paper’s environmental credentials stack up especially in terms of recyclability and renewability’ – Samantha Choles, communications manager for the Paper Manufacturers’ Association of South Africa, on a recent survey that showed South African consumers were leaning more towards paper…

The latest crime figures recently released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) shows a disturbing increase in agriculture-related crime rates. The report, covering the period between July and September this year, revealed several concerning trends in crimes against farmers and agricultural communities across the country, according to a statement by TLU SA. SAPS revealed that 68 murders occurred on agriculture land, farms, estates or smallholdings from July to September. These statistics aligned with the figures reported by TLU SA. The province with the highest agriculture murder rate was the Western Cape, with 24 cases reported. According to the SAPS, cattle theft fell 5,5%, but it still rose concerns for farmers, with 6 935 cases reported during the second quarter of the 2023/24 financial year. However, these figures may present…

Celebrating excellence in agricultural journalism, the Agricultural Writers Association of South Africa (AWSA) recently announced the Farmer, Agriculturist and New Entrant of the Year Awards during a gala event held near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. Dewald te Water of the Te Water Boerdery near Bethal in Mpumalanga won the Farmer of the Year Award. He farms maize, soya bean, oats, silage and Bovelder cattle. The silage is exported to the Middle East, and he adds value to the corn by making popcorn, chips and breakfast cereal, which is sold under his own brand. Sophy Musabeni Litshani, who farms vegetables, won the New Entrant to Commercial Farming Award. As a child she planted spinach in her mother’s garden, and dreamt of becoming a farmer. After school, however, her mother encouraged…

As marginal cropping and low-input farming grow, sunflowers are gaining recognition as a suitable crop to cultivate rotationally with maize. Producers in dryland producing regions find sunflowers appealing due to their general drought tolerance and capacity to provide relatively constant harvests under adverse weather conditions and promising income due to sunflower oil’s application in food preparation, biofuel production, and cosmetics and skin care products. Sunflower flour and cake are fed to animals and the seeds are used for bird seed and human consumption. However, sunflower production is challenged by various insect pests. The sporadic occurrence of the false chinch bug (Nysius natalensis) and the disease sclerotinia head and/or stalk rot, caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, plays a role in the decline of sunflower plantings. In South Africa, the region…

I have produced many thousands of tons of carrots and have done much trial work in the process. Occasionally, I would hear from growers in the Southern Cape who would say how many tons per hectare they were achieving. I did not believe their claims for one minute until I did the spacing trial described in last week’s article (see FW, 1 December 2023). It comes down to sunlight. The Cape gets more hours of sunlight per day than we get further north in Gauteng. Sunlight translates into energy, so more sunlight exposure means greater growth potential. In other words, when one has this extra sunshine, there is the potential to get the desired carrot size with a closer spacing than growers further north can achieve. This translates into a…

Audi’s Black Edition and Urban Edition models boast additional cosmetic and functional features, and will be available on the market from early 2024, along with compelling Audi Assured offers. The first models to receive the Black Edition treatment are Audi South Africa’s sophisticated A4 and S4 sedan ranges. On the A4, the Black Edition package can be selected for the 35 TFSI, 35 TDI and 40 TFSI models, while it’s also an option on the S4 TFSI. Only 100 A4 Black Edition versions will be imported to South Africa, making these derivatives a highly unique sight on our roads. In the case of the A4 Black Edition, the cost of this special-edition model is significantly lower were these items to be optioned individually. These models are available immediately. Some of…

I am a professional lady aged 39, and would like to meet a mature Christian gentleman who loves God. PRE GRACEFUL I am a brown-skinned young woman from Windhoek, Namibia. I love farming and travelling. I am looking for a man I can settle down with, preferably white, coloured, or a Capetonian. He must be willing to have children and lead a happy family life. I speak Afrikaans and an indigenous language. REAL LOVE I am a hands-on person still in the workplace. I reside in a coastal town in the Eastern Cape. Are there any genuine men out there aged between 65 and 70 looking for companionship with a genuine and caring lady? My interests are music, art, cooking, catering and home life. TAKE A CHANCE I am a…

Only 85km from Cape Town is Dassenheuwel Farm Stay & Cottages, between the towns of Malmesbury (to the west) Riebeek-Kasteel (to the north), and Hermon (to the east). A fourth generation of the Lesch family lives on the farm, Dassenheuwel. Owners Kobus and Lida make a formidable team and ensure all is running like clockwork on this working farm. Kobus, assisted by his son Pieter, manages the farming activities, and Lida, a pharmacist, takes care of the Farm Stay & Cottages. FARMING ACTIVITIES Dassenheuwel produces wheat and canola commercially, while it grows lupine and oats on a crop-rotation basis to use as fodder. Livestock includes a herd of Sussex cattle, and a flock of Dohne Merino sheep, a multipurpose breed. Drifts of feral pigs and troops of baboons are the…

Cameras and hydrophones are being combined with artificial intelligence-based technology to alert mussel farmers to whales being entangled in Saldanha Bay. Vodacom South Africa and the WWF South Africa (WWF SA) have teamed up to pilot solutions to safeguard marine mammals against entanglements, the WWF SA said. The work is being piloted in Saldanha Bay on the West Coast, where traditional fishing communities are struggling with overfishing, pollution and climate change. A sustainable alternative has been the development of offshore, rope-grown mussel farms. Although rope-grown mussels are greenlisted, there is a risk that marine mammals, including whales, will become entangled. Local mussels are grown in Saldanha Bay using suspended ropes in the ocean. Raft-suspended cultures are free of grit and sand because they are raised off the bottom of the…

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was predicting a global decline of sugar by about 2% as the commodity was currently trading at its highest price on record. This estimate followed the world’s largest importers of sugar in Asia, Thailand and India suffering damaged crops due to the dry weather caused by El Niño. A market researcher for the FAO said that the 2% decline was predicted to affect the world’s sugar production compared to previous years, and this translated to a loss of more than three million tons. The FAO said that the world’s largest importer of sugar was Brazil, but that despite a good harvest, the country would not be able to fill the gap for the shortage in 2024 and beyond. This impacted…

In a move to support sustainable farming and the growth of SMMEs, the Kgodiso Development Fund has allocated funding to propel two potato farmers into the ranks of commercial farmers in South Africa. The fund, founded by PepsiCo South Africa, aims to boost the agricultural landscape in Limpopo’s potato belt in the Capricorn district by investing in black-owned emerging farming enterprises. One of the farmers, Phophi Raletjena, received R7 million in funding for his farming operation. This will enable him to cultivate 50ha of land, dedicating 30% to potato production for PepsiCo. He currently has a contract to supply potatoes to PepsiCo for its Simba chips business. One million rand in funding was also allocated to Zelda Masoga for Mazeli Farming and Projects. This will see her grow potatoes across…

Agri’s Got Talent (AGT), which usually takes the form of a talent competition, this year celebrated a decade of music with a Reunion Show and Roadshow in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Western Cape, during which previous years’ top contestants performed and showed how the project had enriched their lives. Trips were planned to Langkloof and Eastern Cape, but these had to be postponed. AGT is the brainchild of Hortgro’s executive director, Anton Rabe, who wanted to give the world a glimpse of the ‘real’ people who work in the South African fruit industry, and recognise talents other than those associated with farm work. Rabe sees the competition as an example of the multi-dimensional nature of agriculture and rural communities, and the contribution that this sector can make to unlock the…

The ongoing rise in energy costs, loadshedding as well as environmental concerns associated with the use of coal-fired power stations are the driving forces for agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors to change how energy is consumed. There is a growing interest in energy management, energy efficiency and energy-efficient technologies as a result of escalating energy crisis. In order to deal with the current energy crisis, business at large is realising that energy, like any other resources or raw materials, can be managed. This article focuses on recommending energy-efficient technologies and a way in which energy can be managed to reduce its operational cost to ease the financial burden on consumers – agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors. ENERGY-EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES Businesses in the agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors use a variety of…

Dynamic, robust and unfaltering, is how Kerry Stewart describes the Tuli breed. It was developed in Zimbabwe to thrive under often challenging climatic conditions. Stewart runs the LZ Stud near Gwanda in southern Zimbabwe. The medium-framed Tuli comes in four basic coat colours: red, gold, ivory and dun. These colours and their sleek, shiny coats have enabled them to adapt well to the intense sunlight typical of Zimbabwe. As the Tuli breed developed in relative isolation, it has a unique genetic make-up, being neither Bos taurus nor B. indicus, rendering it especially successful in cross-breeding programmes. A high degree of hybrid vigour is achieved, plus the added advantage of polled calves. TAXING AFRICAN CONDITIONS Just like the Tuli breed, Stewart was also born and bred in Zimbabwe, and she grew…

Farmers have been using MAR (managed aquifer recharge) for decades without calling it by that name. Their ground dams catch rainfall run-off and the stored water seeps down into the aquifer below. But these dams silt up, sealing the dam floor and preventing infiltration. Then, more water evaporates than actually reaches the aquifer. The remedy is to get rid of silt by digging it out mechanically. With the silt gone, surface water can infiltrate more quickly as it need not percolate through the mud. Small or dry streams on the farm can also be used for MAR. One method is to build a retaining structure across the stream near a fault line close to a borehole. When the stream flows, the retaining structure acts like a dam and retards the…

HORSE TALK The Thoroughbred breeding industry in South Africa, which has been in existence since 1920, is targeted at the genetic improvement of racehorses, and the breed raced is exclusively the English Thoroughbred. All breeders have to be paid-up members of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (TBA) of South Africa, located in Gosforth Park, Germiston, Gauteng, and are only allowed to breed with registered Thoroughbred mares and stallions. You can only be a member if you own at least one broodmare, registered with the National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa. You may not breed with Thoroughbred horses that have not raced. At the end of 2022, there were 3 203 broodmares, 1 464 registered foals and 92 stallions registered for breeding purposes in South Africa. The TBA works with SA Studbook…

ACROSS 3. Marsh (6) 8. Woody, grape-producing climbing plant (4) 9. Domestic fowl (7) 10. Reddish-yellow pigment in plants that is converted to vitamin A in the body (8) 11. Calcium or potassium _______ are popular fertilisers (7) 13. Characteristic qualities differentiating people from animals (5,6) 14. Mixture of flour, eggs, milk, etc for making pancakes and coating fried food (6) 16. The red _____ (Cunonia capensis) is an evergreen tree occurring in mountain forests from the Western Cape to Mozambique (5) 19. Fruits of the palm Phoenix dactylifera (5) 21. The ________ Angus is a breed of robust, hornless cattle originating in Scotland (8) 22. Small structure in which pigeons breed (8) 24. Cut of meat from the lower foreleg (5) 25. Smell left by an animal by which…