Farmer's Weekly 6 May 2022

At the end of March, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) published the results of the latest Green Drop Audit in its 2022 Green Drop National Report. During the audit, each wastewater (WW) system assessed across the nine provinces is given a score, which is then aggregated into an organisational score, expressed as a percentage. Each WW system is also given a cumulative risk rating. The minimum Green Drop target is 31%. The audit was conducted across all 144 water service authorities (100% coverage), with all responsible officials present, according to the DWS. Unfortunately, this is where the good news ends. Thirty-nine percent (334) of the 850 WW systems assessed were given a ‘critical’ score. By comparison, 248 (29%) WW systems received this score in 2013. This means that in less…

“In June of 2013, the year which saw the start of Namibia’s prolonged drought, the country’s agricultural debt stood at N$4,5 billion (about R4,5 billion). Exactly seven years later, this figure had soared to N$7,8 billion, an increase of 74%. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the government implemented a number of interventions, including a reduction in the interest rate. This, in combination with good producer prices that year, left the interest payment as a percentage of gross income at 7,6%, which would have been ideal in a stable production system. In the same year, Namibian farmers began to rebuild their herds after the drought, which had led to the deaths of almost half their total livestock. As a result, producers had fewer animals to market, and this, coupled…

4 to 5 May, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein The UFS Animal Breeding and Genomics Course is an intensive two-day course that focuses on the principles of animal breeding and genomics, as well as selection indices. This course has a theoretical and practical component, and is aimed at current or aspiring livestock producers. Email Izaan du Plooy at office@lrf.co.za. CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND EXPOS 12 TO 13 MAY Drone and Unmanned Aviation Conference, Emperors Palace, Kempton Park. Email info@bussynet.co.za. 25 TO 27 MAY Irrigation, Drainage and Water Management Summit, Radisson Blu Hotel, Cape Town. Email Charity Wockelmann at charity@irrigationfmi.co.za. 1 TO 3 JUNE Pump Operation and Maintenance Workshop, Protea Hotel, Sandton. Email Mathema Conferencing and Training at info@mathema.co.za. 21 TO 22 JULY Precision Farming and Technology, Protea Hotel, Sea Point, Cape Town. Visit mathematraining.co.za/upcoming-events-bookings. COURSES AND TRAINING 4 TO 6 MAY Poultry Course, Groenkloof, Pretoria.…

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is calling for more funding to be directed to water research and the development of technologies to improve South African municipalities’ wastewater-treatment processes and maintenance, and to build new treatment plants. The deteriorating quality of raw water, coupled with current water shortages, has created an urgent need to protect the country’s water resources and ensure effective water and wastewater management in South Africa. According to the Water and Sanitation Master Plan, 56% of South Africa’s 1 150 municipal wastewater-treatment works are in a poor or critical condition, while 11% are dysfunctional. This implies that the country’s water resources are negatively impacted and polluted by wastewater that is not properly treated. During the 2022 National Water Week from 20 to 26 March, the CSIR celebrated some…

MOST POPULAR ON FARMERSWEEKLY.CO.ZA ‘A MAMMOTH TASK TO INOCULATE 14 MILLION CATTLE ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA’ It was clear that the attendees of the foot-and-mouth disease information day held recently in Bothaville, Free State, realised the crisis that had resulted from the widespread outbreaks of the disease, said Dr John Purchase, facilitator of the event, and former CEO of Agbiz. Read the full article at bit.ly/37tZgjm, or scan here. Posted: 18 April 2022. Follow us at @FarmersWeeklySA FROM TWITTER Magunya Kalimashe @_Magunya “110 years of farming with @FarmersWeeklySA. Very informative. Interesting history of the magazine and agriculture. Nice to see how things have changed through the years. Well done on putting this work together.” Via Twitter. Posted: 12 April 2022. PHOTO OF THE WEEK Aidan @white_sheep_farm “New Brahma rooster.” Via Instagram. Posted: 4 April 2022. Want your photo to be featured as our…

In this article, South African beef cattle breeders were cautioned about keeping the ratio of meat, bone and fat in their animals in good proportion. At a farmers’ day held recently near Kei Road, V Murray, technical officer of an Eastern Cape meat co-operative, warned beef breeders not to lose the bone in their cattle in their efforts to get more meat. Murray said that although farmers were frequently advised to breed cattle with finer bones, it was his opinion that South African conditions demanded good, strong bones in beef cattle that are run extensively. A GOOD PROPORTION It was, of course, necessary to keep the ratio of meat, bone and fat in good proportion. Carcasses had to be bred to suit today’s grading standards in South Africa. What the consumer wanted was an animal…