Suid Afrika is droog - baie droog en ons Landbouers is diep bekommerd oor hulle toekoms.

The ANC government has no idea that economic growth and progress are totally dependent on the profitability and sustainability of all the individual industries, such as, among others, the production, manufacturing, construction and trading industries in the primary and secondary sectors, as well as the service industries in the tertiary sector of the economy,” says Fanie Brink, an independent agricultural economist.

Die ANC-regering het geen begrip daarvoor dat ekonomiese groei en voortuitgang totaal afhanklik is van die winsgewendheid en volhoubaarheid van al die individuele bedrywe soos, onder andere, die produksie-, vervaardigings-, konstruksie- en handelsbedrywe in die primêre en sekondêre sektore, asook die dienstebedrywe in die tersiêre sektor van die ekonomie nie,” sê Fanie Brink, ‘n onafhanklike landbou-ekonoom.

Rising fuel and electricity prices and a weaker rand could feed into higher food inflation, but economists expect the uptick to be relatively moderate.

THE South African agricultural sector is projected to overcome severe challenges afflicting it in recent years.

The prolonged drought has exacted a toll with a negative impact on the yields of major summer crops this year. According to Statistics SA, the production of maize, soybeans and sunflower seeds is expected to be down 13%, 16% and 29% respectively from last year.

The countdown to naming this year's champions of Sauvignon blanc has begun. Along with an increase in entries, judges completing the final round of assessments for the 2019 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Competition highlighted excellence of matured white wines. 

Agriculture in KwaZulu-Natal is growing at around 12 percent per annum, driven by diversification, but there are risks to the sector posed by land expropriation, climate change and cheaper imports, First National Bank said.

Recent rains in some parts of the country have renewed hope of a normal season after weeks of heat, dryness and decreasing dam levels.

With Christmas only four weeks away, the current trend in meat prices signals prospects of expensive braais during the 2020 December festive season.

by Ian van Niekerk (MD at Oakland) and Dawie Maree (FNB’s Head of Agriculture Information & Marketing)