Table of contents for 15 February 2019 in Farmer's Weekly

When agriculture sneezes, the whole economy catches a cold, the saying goes. We saw clear proof of this in 2018, when South Africa experienced a technical recession after the country’s GDP declined during each of the first two quarters of the year due to a massive drop in agricultural output. Government is well aware of this. Speaking at the recent launch of a BEE initiative in the citrus industry in the Sunday’s River Valley (see story on pg 25) the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sfiso Buthelezi, said he had learnt from his time at the Department of Finance, where he served as deputy minister from March 2017 to February 2018, that when agriculture is not performing well, it drags the entire economy down. Buthelezi also said that South Africa had…

Mikhaila Gordon, a PhD student at the University of the Western Cape and South African National Biodiversity Institute, appeals for the assistance of the public with regard to her doctoral thesis. My thesis focuses on the taxonomy of bladder grasshoppers of the family Pneumoridae. Bladder grasshoppers are an ancient and highly unusual group of grasshoppers, and are found predominantly in South Africa. More information is needed on their distribution and taxonomy to better understand and conserve these creatures. Several species are rare and also difficult to find due to their cryptic colouration, and so I need your help in locating them. I am specifically interested in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Western, Northern and Eastern Cape regions, particularly the forested areas. Bladder grasshoppers are about 50mm to 80mm in length. Males are…

I recently resigned from a regional project funded by a prominent development agency to pursue other interests. The project in which I was involved was unique and exciting in many ways, particularly because it focused primarily on promoting intra-regional trade in agricultural commodities and products. This having been my first chance to work in the development space, I’d had preconceived notions about what development was, and how it should be implemented to achieve optimal impact. After spending 20 months on the project, I gained a few perspectives about what development actually is, and the role of the private sector, government and development agencies in this regard. I learnt several key lessons from my brief experience that I would like to share. First, let me articulate what I thought development was.…

Timeous and effective government assistance for South Africa’s farmers to survive ongoing drought conditions is one of the key aspects that major agricultural organisations are hoping will be highlighted in Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s 2019/2020 National Budget Speech on 20 February. TAU SA’s assistant general manager, Chris van Zyl, said that for the agriculture sector that was already suffering the effects of the drought, the state’s inability to provide meaningful drought relief to farmers “does not promise a bright future”. “No doubt it will result in rising product prices for already financially stressed consumers and inevitably impact food security, thus creating the need to import food where shortages are experienced,” he said. Van Zyl added that with the “economy performing poorly”, the South African agriculture sector would also have…

The drought’s stranglehold on South Africa has resulted in the country being dethroned as the leading maize producer in sub-Saharan Africa. According to Wandile Sihlobo, head of economic and agribusiness intelligence at Agbiz, the drought in the western parts of South Africa’s summer grain production region had resulted in Nigeria overtaking South Africa to become the largest maize producer in the 2018/2019 production season. According to a preliminary production estimate South Africa was expected to produce roughly 10,5 million tons of maize, while Nigeria was expected to produce an estimated 11 million tons. However, Sihlobo said South Africa remained one of the most productive countries in terms of yield. “Nigeria’s 2018/2019 maize yield is [expected to be] about 1,6 t/ha, while South Africa’s average yield estimate is 4,6t/ha. In a good…

ITALY This year’s World Cheese Awards, due to be held in October, will see up to 3 500 entries judged in a single day in Bergamo, Italy. The competition will form part of the city’s annual Forme cheese festival. The 2018 World Cheese Awards, hosted by Norway, saw a record-breaking 3 472 cheeses from 41 countries judged by teams of three judges to select the winners. Last year’s Forme festival, attended by 40 000 visitors who tasted or bought 12 000kg of cheese, also featured tastings, panel discussions, training sessions, markets, and an exhibition of 50 Italian cheeses. UNITED STATES A Canadian-owned company is introducing a plant-based burger that it says delivers the sensory experience consumers crave from a beef burger. Massachusetts-based Lightlife Foods, owned by Canadian meat processor Maple…

Litchi farmers realised a good harvest this past season. Moreover, prices held up well in Europe, where large volumes on the market in December often caused a price slump. Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly, Bobby Price, chairperson of the South African Litchi Growers’ Association (SALGA), said it had generally been a good season. The exception was the Komatipoort region, where high temperatures had caused sun damage to the fruit. He added that litchis from the Malelane area had reached the market first, and while they had good fruit set, the quality was below average due to the drought and high temperatures. Commenting on weather conditions in the Komatipoort area, Frik Joubert, former chairperson of SALGA, said temperatures of up to 40°C with low humidity had resulted in much of the fruit…

Notice of NERPO special general meeting Members of the National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (NERPO) are reminded of the following resolutions taken by national representatives in Pretoria on October 2018: • Each province must conduct district meetings by the end of February 2019 to explain the restructuring process of NERPO; • Each district must elect five executive council members per category, giving a total of 15 council members per district; • The election of the district councils must be completed by all provinces by the end of February 2019; • A special general meeting, which will be attended by all district leaders (district council members), will be held in March 2019 to adopt the amended NERPO constitution, five-year strategic plan, and new NERPO structure. In addition to the above…

The previous article (see Farmer’s Weekly of 1 February) covered the docking or removal of a sheep’s tail. This week, we look at how and when to castrate a ram. Whether or not you decide to castrate your rams will depend on a number of factors. What market are you aiming at? What are its requirements? Can you obtain better prices for castrated rams? Some religious groups, for example, prefer to buy uncastrated rams. Or you might be interested in the fat lamb market, where abattoirs do not discriminate against young, uncastrated males. These sheep should, however, be under six months of age and show no signs of losing their milk teeth. In order to get fat lambs to the required live weight of about 45kg before they are six…

Whernit Dirks always knew he wanted to pursue a career in agriculture. “I was born and bred on a farm, and worked and lived on a farm. Even my school essays had always been about agricultural topics,” recalls Dirks. In 2006, he joined the workforce of Windheuwel, near Piketberg in the Western Cape, to become the third generation of his family to till the soil on the farm. That same year, the owner of Windheuwel, Stephanus Richter, gave three of his workers the opportunity to pick three half-breed ewes to rear. When this initiative proved a success, Richter made 100ha of his most arable land available at R1/ha per year, as well as 100 sheep, to the workers of Windheuwel. This deal was valid only for the start-up year in…

To make this salad for four diners, you will need: FOR THE SALAD: 500g shelled prawns 250g rosa tomatoes 1 medium carrot 1 cucumber 1 cup roasted, shelled peanuts 2 to 3 cups of cooked risoni pasta 1 medium-sized red onion Butter lettuce or pak choi Fresh rocket, basil, coriander and mint FOR THE DRESSING: Juice of 2 limes 2 cloves of garlic 40mm of a big, fresh red chilli 60ml Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce 6 tablespoons of brown sugar 1 Start with the dressing. Squeeze the juice from the limes and discard the pips. Crush, peel and mince the garlic. Remove most of the seeds from the chilli and finely chop the rest. Combine these with the fish sauce and brown sugar in a screw-top bottle and shake…

Voice notes is an Android app that can be downloaded for free on Google Playstore. It is only 7,1Mb in size, easy to use, and will most certainly help a farmer become more organised by making it easy to take notes when out of the office. VOICE RECOGNITION The beauty of the app is that you don’t even need to write: speech recognition software allows you to dictate voice notes, which are then automatically converted to text. Any incorrect words or spellings can easily be edited. To create a note, tap on the icon on the bottom right of the app, wait until ‘Speak’ appears, and dictate your words loudly and clearly. After the recording, you then verify that the recorded recognition note is correct, or make any corrections necessary,…

“Last year, we were all cheerfully clinking glasses full of Ramaphoria Cap Classique, but what has happened that the wine suddenly seems to have become sour and undrinkable? The reason most South Africans are depressed and don’t notice all the positive moments in the country is that we have underestimated the massive impact the Zuma tsunami has had on our economy and politics. We were not prepared for its aftermath, which is still affecting us. We are only now beginning to comprehend the destruction the former president left in his wake. There is now more intolerance, cheap populism, division, hatred, inequality, poverty and instability than ever before. It should have been the other way round. However, the fact that South Africa is still in one piece is testimony to this…

Dear Peter, I recently read your column ‘How balanced a business manager are you?’ (see FW, 11 January). Your column struck a chord with me and really got me thinking about my own financial literacy. I am going to move to the family farm in about two years along with my wife, but I really want to get at least a theoretical knowledge of financial literacy in terms of farming before then. Could you recommend any books or similar materials I could read and study? Kind regards, Norman Luyt Dear Norman, Glad to see that this subject hit the spot! It’s a subject that goes over the heads of most farmers, much to their detriment. Here is a very useful publication and course you should consider: • The Johannesburg School of…

South Africa’s agriculture sector has experienced high volatility in various areas over the past four years. Some of the key drivers of this include the persistent drought, the currency exchange rate, commodity prices, international market movements, changing demand driven by growth in Asia, high grain stock levels, and changing consumer behaviour. Current production data indicates that agricultural production in South Africa has declined slightly, a trend that is expected to continue in the 2019/2020 production season. Although maize remains the largest summer crop in South Africa, the area planted to the crop has declined from 2,6 million hectares in 2017/2018 to 2,3 million hectares in 2018/2019. Consequently, the current crop estimates suggest that the maize yield for the current season will reach just over 12 million tons, a decline of…

The South African Protein Research Foundation is planning a grain and oilseed value chain indaba later this year. The purpose of the indaba was to create a value chain plan to add additional value for end-consumers, according to Gerhard Keun, the foundation’s CEO. “We require ongoing communication and collaboration between all the role players in the supply chain to ensure sustainability. Challenges facing the industry supply chain will be tabled at the indaba, [but] the date has not been confirmed yet,” he said. Over the past five years, the local soya bean industry had made excellent progress, Keun added. Production had doubled and processing of local soya bean had increased substantially, leading to an improvement in the trade balance. Soya oilcake imports had decreased significantly, which was a positive development…

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) and the Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers’ Union have compiled an emergency action plan to mitigate the impact of the drought in the country. “The entire country is experiencing drought conditions, without exception. Namibia received below-average rainfall during five of the past seven years. This depleted growth in our rangelands and resulted in markedly reduced grazing. The situation was exacerbated by the past months’ relentless drought,” NAU president, Ryno van der Merwe, said in a statement. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in South Africa had resulted in a more than 20% drop in weaner and sheep prices in Namibia. This had a negative impact on Namibian producers, who had been forced to reduce animal numbers on their farms due to the drought, the statement said.…

South Africa’s table grape industry has experienced a tough season thus far, despite enjoying better climatic conditions than in previous years. According to Clayton Swart, communications manager at the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI), the market conditions had been quite challenging due to greater volumes shipped to Europe. Swart said the US had achieved record inventory levels in October and November last year, due to a bumper table grape crop in California, as well as trade tensions with China. “This has left the US market saturated, [which] created unfavourable conditions for South American producers. These producers, especially from Peru, had to look at alternative markets that led to more fruit being shipped to Europe, South Africa’s key market,” Swart explained. According to Swart, this had had a particularly negative…

The actual area planted to maize this season is still being hotly debated by agricultural role players, with some not convinced that the preliminary figure released by the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) is a true reflection. During his first agricultural markets outlook workshop for the year in Bloemfontein, agricultural economist Prof Johan Willemse said that he believed far fewer hectares had been planted to maize in the Free State than estimated by the CEC. In its report, the CEC had estimated that the preliminary area planted to maize in the province was one million hectares. According to Willemse, the area estimate by the CEC might be overstating maize plantings in the Free State by about 140 000ha. He said that even if the CEC’s figure was accurate, the yield potential…

Worldwide, farmers face two gaps in their income stream. On the one hand, the gap between farm product prices and input costs is closing; on the other, the gap between farm and retail prices is widening. A producer must manage both rising input costs and farm prices that do not keep up with retail prices. While price volatility may cause prices for specific products to rise or fall from time to time, the long-term trend will prevail. THE GAP BETWEEN INPUT COSTS AND PRODUCT PRICES Farmers usually concern themselves more with product prices than input costs, yet they usually have less control over the first than the second. Yet they can take action to limit increases in input costs. For one, they’re good negotiators, as anyone who ever visited a…

The late rainfall that occurred during the summer planting window for maize threatens to limit the output of the crop during the 2019/20 marketing year. Until the end of December 2018, the monthly rainfall distribution mimicked the rainfall pattern in 2016, and due to drought conditions, planting was delayed in many regions. The Free State, which produces the bulk of South Africa’s summer maize crop, received only 57% of the longterm average rainfall for this area from July until December. Mpumalanga received 75% and North West 55% of the long-term average rainfall during the optimal planting period. RAINFALL IN THE WEST BENEFITS FARMERS However, maize producers in the western production regions managed to increase plantings during January thanks to rainfall that occurred during this month. Although the number of hectares…

“It’s their temperament and character that fascinate me the most. People don’t realise how intelligent they are,” says Gerrit van de Pypekamp, a breeder of spotted donkeys. The Pretoria-based biochemical engineer owns a biotechnology company; his venture into donkey breeding was thus unexpected. ‘I SELECT TO IMPROVE TRAITS AND COLOUR PATTERNS’ His father, Hans, began breeding Nguni cattle in the 1980s on his farm near Coligny. Some years ago, the stud lost calves to predators, and Van de Pypekamp started investigating keeping donkeys with the cows, as they reportedly make excellent herd protectors. “I wanted to test this theory, but couldn’t find a donkey, as no one sold any,” he recalls. “Then I saw a photo of a spotted donkey and realised I wanted something beautiful like that to walk…

Is loyalty an outmoded concept in a world of quick fixes? Do people prefer to ‘do whatever is necessary’ and not worry about tomorrow or the consequences? The more cynical among us will no doubt say that’s exactly the way most people think these days. Yet loyalty within the trading environment of a fresh produce market remains crucial to business relationships and ongoing sales. It oils the wheels of the industry. And carefully building that loyalty is not part of the cynical ‘quick-fix’ brigade’s ethos. Loyalty requires patience, understanding and support between two parties, be they producer and salesperson, buyer and salesperson, or any other combination. Without loyalty, you’ll find the less attractive characteristics of the human species emerging. No business needs that. A CASE IN POINT I recall with…

A smoothie in the blink of an eye The NUTRIBULLET MAGIC BULLET 600 is a convenient, easy-to-use blender. It is child-safe and one of the easiest blender models currently on the market to operate. To make a smoothie, just pour the ingredients into the cup, add the desired liquid, screw the cap on for sealing, and press the cup into the power base. The blender’s blades are made from stainless steel and don’t require sharpening. The engine is quiet, and the blender is small for easy storage. The Nutribullet is perfect for making smoothies, nut butters and almond milk. There are no buttons or switches, and it does its job in only a few minutes. The blender comes with a nutrition manual and recipe book, as well as a short…

Red and white grapes are frequently blended in good Rosé wines and in many other styles too. Viognier, for example, sometimes forms a small part of a red blend that includes Shiraz, while Chardonnay and Pinot Noir make such wonderful partners that they are found in most Champagnes and local MCCs. Many local wine farms, as I have previously mentioned, make still wines using these two grapes. But how about blending Chenin Blanc with Pinotage? Beyers Truter and the winemakers at Beyerskloof threw these two varieties together to produce a refreshingly fruity and delicious wine. It happens to be my mother’s favourite even though it has the slightest hint of copper on the colour, but without any pink tinge because the Pinotage juice was separated from its skins immediately after…

Day or night, drinking a cup of tea can be a soothing, relaxing experience. Both Ceylon and green tea contain compounds such as L-theanine that deliver verified relaxing benefits. L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea leaves that promotes relaxation and sleep, reduces anxiety, and helps one focus. (It is also available in supplement form.) L-theanine works by increasing the levels of calming chemicals such as GABA, serotonin and dopamine in the brain. These important neurotransmitters regulate emotions, mood, concentration, alertness, sleep, appetite, energy, and other cognitive skills. ACTING IN TWO COMPLEMENTARY WAYS L-theanine’s main advantage is then that it performs two functions which complement each other: it lowers levels of excitatory brain chemicals while increasing the levels of chemicals that promote feelings of calm. Reducing the levels of…

25 TO 26 FEBRUARY AI for Pigs AT THIS WORKSHOP, DELEGATES ARE TAUGHT HOW TO PROPERLY DETECT ANIMALS ON HEAT, TIME ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION ACCURATELY, AND USE THE PROPER TECHNIQUE FOR INSEMINATION. CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS & EXPOS 25 TO 26 FEBRUARY Artificial Insemination for Pig Producers, Middelburg.Email gtc@picrsa.co.za , or phone 082 885 9741. 27 TO 28 FEBRUARY Efficient Beef Cattle Production, Kuruman.Visit bommereaipela.co.za , or email info@bommereaipela.co.za . 5 TO 7 MARCH Advanced Grass Identification, ALUT Training Farm, Modimolle.Email courses@alut.co.za . 6 TO 7 MARCH Undercover Farming Expo, CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria. Visit undercoverfarmingexpo.co.za . 11 TO 13 MARCH First Biannual International Soy for Human Health Conference, St George Hotel, Pretoria. Email Bronwyn or Petra…

South African Wagyu breeders have welcomed the results of a test commissioned to evaluate the feed efficiency of their cattle. CEO of Wagyu South Africa, Dr Michael Bradfield, said the society’s culture was based on adopting scientific principles, and member breeders were adding to the database of information on the breed all the time. “We have over 1 000 weaning weights recorded and 6 000 birthweights,” he said. The most recent data were obtained from a trial at the Sernick Group’s Phase C Testing Station in Edenville. Bradfield said the sample group of 74 bulls and oxen had included 15 red cattle with the rest being black, and had represented a broad genetic pool drawn from about six different breeders. He expressed satisfaction with the outcomes on both the average…

Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to produce 30% to 90% of the projected long-term aviation biofuel demand. The region has approximately 84 million hectares of prime land and another 157 million hectares of moderately suitable land on which to produce biofuel feedstock in line with sustainability criteria. This was according to a new study conducted by the World Wildlife Fund South Africa and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. These criteria are set out by the independent global organisation, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). It requires that any crop and biomass residue that would result in a negative environmental and social impact, such as food insecurity, unsustainable use of scarce resources, such as water, land, the destruction of biodiversity and insufficient reduction of greenhouse gases, be excluded. Speaking at…

Denmark is building a 70km-long steel-mat fence along its entire border with Germany. Due to be completed by next year, the DKK80 million (R166 million) fence, which is 1,5m high and extends 50cm underground, is aimed at preventing the entry of wild pigs, bringing with them the threat of African swine fever (ASF). Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food said it was spending DKK123,9 million (R253 million) on greater efforts to combat ASF. This figure included DKK30 million (R61 million) provided by the pig industry. It added that the fence would protect Denmark’s pig producers and their DKK30 billion (R61 billion) export market from a disease that was moving closer to its border. Two dead wild pigs recently found in Belgium were found to have contracted ASF. According to the…

The Cape Wools Merino Indicator decreased 2,7% and 586 points to close at R215,16 (clean) at the first sale of February, while the Australian EMI gained 0,4%. The decline was mostly the result of a stronger rand and a small correction in the US dollar price. This was due to the fact that on the better wools, the South African market performed consistently better than the Australian market, according to Heinrich Victor, operational manager for fibre at OVK. There was a very small offering of good grade wools in addition to a small weekly offering of 5 700 bales. Due to ongoing supply problems in Lesotho, with no wool reaching the South African market, the next sale had been cancelled due to insufficient offerings, he said. Buying houses expressed concern…

Consistent, formal and recent statistics on production, harvests, and processing in South Africa’s marula fruit value chain are necessary to turn this potentially lucrative agricultural industry into a commercially sustainable industry and create jobs in rural areas. This was according to Rosemary du Preez, a researcher of indigenous and alternative crops, as well as small farmer development, at the Agricultural Research Council. Steve Galane, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said that there was currently no commercial production of marula in South Africa. “Marula is only harvested [in the wild] and therefore there are no production trends available,” he said. Du Preez said that while most marula fruit was harvested from trees in the wild and the volumes of these harvests were unknown, selections had, nonetheless,…

Approximately 40 land reform beneficiaries in KwaZulu-Natal are in the process of being liquidated by Ithala Bank, according to one beneficiary who spoke to Farmer’s Weekly on condition of anonymity. Beneficiaries’ inability to maintain their loan repayments were attributed to the prolonged drought conditions in the region. Farmer’s Weekly’s source said the farms had been acquired in 2010 or thereabouts through funding from government’s Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme and private financing by Ithala Bank. The farmers had also subsequently borrowed money from Ithala Bank to pay for farming equipment and production inputs. According to the source, other factors affecting farmers were water restrictions on irrigation; ongoing theft of copper electricity cables for irrigation systems; lack of markets for vegetable and field crops; livestock diseases; low recoverable value prices…

In the US, if a taxpayer can prove that he or she took out a loan to build a home or make substantial improvements to a house, the interest expense is deductible. This seems a very good idea for us here in South Africa. It would, I’m sure, do wonders for the building industry. Home owners would also find it easier to keep up their bond interest commitments; as a result, home ownership is likely to become a far more attractive proposition. Homes are already subject to tax. As a major capital asset for most South Africans, the home is potentially subject to both capital gains tax and estate duty. LESS STATE EXPENDITURE ON HOUSING REQUIRED Imagine a South Africa where owning a home is made more affordable for everyone.…

TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMPANY. Balkrishna Industries Limited, commonly known as BKT Tires, was founded in 1987 in Mumbai, India, by the company’s current chairperson and managing director, Arvind Poddar, and his family. BKT focuses on developing and manufacturing off-highway tyres predominantly for the international agricultural, construction, industrial and mining sectors. Currently, BKT has a market presence in 160 countries, and 65% of our US$900 million (about R12 billion) turnover in the 2017/2018 financial year was generated from the sale of agricultural tyres. WHAT TRENDS HAVE YOU NOTICED IN AGRICULTURAL TYRE MARKET REQUIREMENTS OVER THE PAST DECADE? For many decades, and irrespective of who the manufacturers were, agricultural tyres were commonly manufactured with the bias-ply pattern. While they are durable and relatively inexpensive, bias-ply agricultural tyres generate a lot of…

FAST FACTS • Tracy and Thukela Marobobo run a 55-head Bonsmara herd on 548ha of state-owned land. • The sweetveld grazing on the farm has a stocking capacity of 1 MLU/6ha. • As they lack a scale (and other equipment), they estimate the weight of the cows by using a tape measure. Tracy Marobobo and her husband, Thukela Marobobo, farm in partnership with her father, Matoo Khothule. They operate on 548ha of state-owned land comprising two farms, Roodekrans and Doorndraai, near Ventersburg in the Free State. Their main pursuit is beef cattle production, but they are also considering expanding into sheep, pigs and poultry. In addition, they hope to soon introduce a cropping component to produce feed or generate cash flow. According to Tracy, their long-term goal for the farming business is adding…

Maize is a relatively easy crop to grow, especially for personal or home consumption. It is fairly drought-resistant and generally less prone to disease than other vegetables. The home gardener who does not want the effort of growing a steady and varied supply of vegetables, but who would still like to use his or her vegetable patch profitably, should consider planting green mealies sequentially. PLANTING AND SPACING Plant the maize seeds 50cm apart (60cm when water is scarce; 30cm when it is abundant) in rows spaced 1m apart. Using a hoe or spade, make a hole 5cm deep for each seed. Pour 2l of water into the hole. After it has drained away, place the seed in the hole and cover it with soil. For a family of four, plant…

THE SENTINELS by Daniel Dolpire & David Allan (HPH, R790) Anyone with the slightest interest in birds will be moved by this vast array of portraits of South Africa’s three beautiful and threatened crane species (blue, crowned and wattled). In five years of travelling the country, Dolpire created evocative and often highly detailed pictures, from misty mornings to sunlit but fierce turf wars. Allan, Durban Natural Science Museum curator of birds, contributes a text that is fascinatingly informative. FIELD GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS OF SOUTH AFRICA by John Manning (Struik Nature, R390) For most botanists, it would have been quite enough to be Mr Fynbos or a world expert on irises and hyacinths, but Manning’s curiosity about plants is broad-ranging, and includes flower families as well…

Neighbour Jan was quietly contemplating his Lotto ticket as we sat having morning coffee on my stoep. “What would you do if you won the Lotto and became a millionaire overnight?” I asked him. “I wouldn’t tell a soul,” he said. “I’d hide the money under my mattress and not deposit it in the bank because I’d be on the Receiver of Revenue’s hit list. “If I blabbered about my instant wealth, family and friends I never knew I had would beat a path to my door begging for handouts. “And after that?” I asked. “I’d sell all my livestock and replace it with game, build a fancy lodge for wealthy hunters, stock my bar with Klippies, buy a holiday house at the sea and a boat, fish all day,…