Farmer's Weekly 23-30 December 2022

At the dawn of 2022, most of us were probably pretty postive about the year ahead. COVID-19 restrictions were on the wane and our electricity supply seemed somewhat constant. The drought had broken in many production regions and business confidence was on the increase. It was the beginning of a new year, which held great promise. Fast-forward to the end of 2022, and the positivity we may have felt in January is taking a serious nosedive. We have experienced more load-shedding in this year than any other time (at the time of writing, Eskom had just announced Stage 6 blackouts until “further notice”). The roads across the country are falling apart, with some provinces, such as the Free State, hit particularly hard by crumbling road infrastructure. Operations at our ports are…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer's Weekly. This is an edited excerpt of the keynote address given by Prof James Blignaut at the MPO-Nedbank Stewardship Awards event on 30 November 2022. Blignaut is a member of the scientific panel of the World Farmers' Organisation, professor extraordinaire attached to the School of Public Leadership of Stellenbosch University, and honorary research associate of the South African Environmental Observation Network. He is also director of ASSET Research and manager of Restore Africa Funds. Email him at jnblignaut@gmail.com. “ The prolonged financial support of conventional agricultural practices, knowing all too well the detrimental effects these have, can be compared to reckless lending, if not de jure, then definitely de facto. It's therefore important to celebrate the visionary leadership of…

CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND EXPOS 20 TO 24 MARCH 2023 Africa Regional Apimondia (bee) Symposium, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, Durban. Visit apimondiaafrica2023.org.za. 24 TO 26 MARCH 2023 Cannabis Expo, GrandWest, Cape Town. Visit thecannabisexpo.co.za. COURSES AND TRAINING 18 JANUARY TO 10 MARCH 2023 Online Field Guide Course. Email Meagan Gilfillan at enquiries@ecotraining.co.za, or phone her on 013 752 2532. 26 JANUARY 2023 Cattle Pregnancy Awareness, George. Email Rothman Livestock and Training Services at office@RLTSafrica.com. 31 JANUARY TO 14 MARCH 2023 Citrus Planting Management (online). Phone Agricolleges International on 063 940 0334, or email info@agricolleges.com. 31 JANUARY TO 21 MARCH 2023 Citrus Packing Course (online). Phone Agricolleges International on 063 940 0334, or email info@agricolleges.com. 10 TO 15 FEBRUARY 2023 Industrial: Mushroom Substrate Design, Cultivation, Marketing, Business Planning and Operational Management System Design (online). Visit mushroomacademy.com, or email registration@mushroomacademy.com. 14 FEBRUARY TO 9 APRIL 2023 The Fundamentals of…

KwaZulu-Natal farmers Khanyisile Zulu and Nomfundo Makhanya, who are participants in Momentum Metropolitan's Women in Farming (WIF) programme, were recently invited by Health and Wholeness Ethiopia and Mulie Animal Feed Processing Factory to partake on a learning journey to Ethiopia. The WIF programme is a threeyear incubator that aims to enhance the skills of young black women farmers, empowering them to help feed their communities. The Ethiopian initiative added a capacity-building layer to the WIF programme. The intention was to help the participants identify new ways of building a sustainable South African animal-feed production line while exposing them to different methods of farming across the continent. 'WE CAN LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT FARMING FROM OTHER CULTURES; THE TRIP WAS TRULY INSPIRING' “Working with our WIF participants, it was highlighted that the high cost of…

51 YEARS AGO 1911 27 October 1971 2022 This article revealed the link between mastitis and a dairy operation's profitability. It is of national importance to bring mastitis in South African dairy herds under control to increase productivity as a measure against a declining profit margin in the dairy industry. Mastitis is still an important limiting factor in dairy herds around the world. The occurrence of the subclinical form of mastitis increased from 14% before World War II to the present 50% to 60%. Acute or chronic mastitis could result in a decrease in milk production of up to 50%, but it isn't common knowledge that the daily milk production of a herd with a relatively high occurrence of subclinical mastit is could be between 25% and 35% lower than normal. The economic importance of mastitis is apparent…

There is consensus among agricultural stakeholders that sustainable growth in South Africa's agriculture sector cannot be achieved solely through the expansion of production, but that an extension of export markets should be a key pillar of growth. This has been well understood for many years, and for nearly three decades South Africa has excelled at opening up export markets, which has supported the growth seen by the sector since 1994. TRADE AGREEMENTS South Africa has successfully negotiated a number of free trade agreements (FTAs) with critical regional and international markets over the past few decades. These include: • The Southern African Development Community (SADC) FTA; • The Southern African Customs Union (SACD)-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA); • SACU/MozambiqueUnited Kingdom EPA; • The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); and • The SACU-Mercosur Preferential…