CATEGORIES

Half of Africa's white rhinos in private hands

Hayley Clements, a researcher at Stellenbosch University, Dave Balfour, a freelance conservation ecologist, and Enrico Di Minin, an associate professor in Conservation Geography at the University of Helsinki, explain how and why the approach to rhino conservation on the continent has to change

Growing great fruit may not be enough

A paper on the performance of South Africa’s fresh fruit exports has been released by Henley Business School Africa in collaboration with the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Stellenbosch University. It emphasises that maintaining strong exporter-importer relationships could be critical to keep the industry on top

Award-winning gin from Namibia's dry interior

The innovative Naute Kristall Distillery is situated near Keetmanshoop in Namibia’s arid southern region. Established by Michael and Katrin Weder, it has become renowned for its outstanding, prizewinning gin

Watchdogs: a bark in time can save you

A watchdog can alert its owner to potential threats or intrusions. Janine Ryan looks at some of the best watchdog breeds to consider for farmers and even city dwellers

Uphill road from small to commercial farming

Driven by passion and a dream to develop his business to its full potential, livestock farmer Petros Sibanyoni is persevering despite trials and tribulations. He spoke to Lindi Botha about the challenges faced by emerging farmers, many of whom seem stuck in the proverbial development freezer

Helping unemployed graduates to find work

Armed with a degree and youthful vigour, many a graduate has faced the stark reality of being unable to secure a job despite their qualifications. Lindi Botha spoke to Jenny More, director of RecruitAgri, about why this scenario keeps playing out, and how to solve it.

Cheaper, crowdfunded solar energy for farmers

Sun Exchange uses crowdfunding to help schools, farms and other organisations switch to solar power. Abe Cambridge, the founder of Sun Exchange, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about this solution.

Harvesting 'grey water' for drip irrigation

Irrigation is an essential part of producing good crops, even in a vegetable garden or home orchard. Here's a cost-effective way of ensuring that your fruit and vegetables get enough water, says Shane Brody.

Foreign currency: now business risk number one!

The challenges associated with foreign currency transactions have escalated sharply and become arguably the greatest risk for farmers. Get expert advice and take action to limit your exposure, advises Peter Hughes.

Royal Show to focus purely on agriculture

The Royal Show was held for the final time at Pietermaritzburg's Royal Show Grounds from May 26 to June 4.

A bumper crop of agricultural college graduates

A larger than usual number of students graduated recently from the Taung Agricultural College (TAC), based in Taung in North West.

British fruit farmers' concerns grow over shortage of seasonal workers

Farmers in the UK are concerned about a shortage of workers as harvest season approaches.

App allows rapid reporting of coastal issues

World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) recently launched an app that allows the public to report incidents, ranging from poaching to pollution and marine wildlife strandings, in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, which extends from Gordon's Bay to the Bot River Estuary in the Western Cape.

Elephant-human conflict a peril to Namibia's FMD status

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) welcomed the Meat Board of Namibia's purchase of approximately R900 000 worth of energisers and other accessories to protect the Namibia-Botswana border fence against elephant encroachment.

Census aims to improve knowledge on cheetahs

Landowners have been asked to participated in the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census launched by the Cheetah Outreach Trust, Ashia Cheetah Conservation and Stellenbosch University.

A 'flop' that flourished

This article described how tobacco seedlings, from a shaky start in trays, ended up larger, healthier and hardier than those grown in seedbeds.

Farmed meat versus lab-grown alternatives

Precision fermentation will be unlikely to disrupt the livestock industry but may provide high-value products for niche markets, says Prof Paul Wood of Monash University Clayton Campus, in Victoria, Australia.

Some common grapevine diseases in South Africa

In this article, Janine Ryan looks at the symptoms, treatment and prevention of some of South Africa's most common fungal, bacterial and viral diseases of grapevines.

Veld fires and livestock: advice on animal treatment decisions

Dr Claudia Cardoso, lecturer in Ruminant Health and Production, and Dr Rhoda Leask, senior lecturer in Ruminant Health and Production, both of the Department of Production Animal Studies in the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Veterinary Science, offer some advice on treating livestock affected by veld fires.

Upskilling helps people and boosts profits

Improving workers' skills is essential to increasing production efficiency and improving staff morale, and lies entirely with the farmer, who is ultimately the custodian of food production. Indeed, fulfilling this role responsibly requires ensuring that farmworkers undergo ongoing training, says Janine Ryan.

SA brandy wins title of world's best for second year

Locally produced Van Ryn Distillery’s 15-year-old potstill brandy has been awarded the World’s Best Wine Brandy at the 2023 World Brandy Awards that were recently held in London, UK.

US producer confidence down on back of dropping commodity prices

Sentiment among US agricultural producers declined sharply in May as crop prices continued to weaken, World Grain recently reported.

Community initiative set to boost medicinal agriculture on the KZN North Coast

South Africa’s Organic Medical Herbs Strategic Project Plan was recently launched in the iLembe District. Jyothi Laldas reports.

Draft water licence legislation under fire

The Department of Water and Sanitation has proposed draft water-use legislation stipulating that certain enterprises would need up to 75% black shareholding to apply for a water licence. This appears to fly in the face of public interest and previous investments made by water users. Glenneis Kriel reports.

Agri North West welcomes load-shedding initiative

Agri North West welcomed the recent announcement by the province’s MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development Desbo Mohono that the department planned to engage with Eskom on the possible exemption of load-shedding for agriculture sectors such as agro-processing.

BRICS: is South Africa backing the right horse?

Hosting the 2023 BRICS summit has become fraught with dangers for South Africa, writes Danny Bradlow, a professor at the Centre for Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria. In this article, he explains why the organisation was established, and outlines its successes and failures.

Risk mitigation in farming

PJ Mommsen, a freelance risk mitigation strategist, writes about how the inclusion of risk mitigation strategies and innovative solutions, in combination with the traditional value analysis of a defined element of production, can add new perspectives to farming operations, and specifically sheep production.

Coaxing the clouds

The history of weather modification has been stormy. From exploding balloons to strewing smelly chemical concoctions around dams, Roelof Bezuidenhout looks at how we came to the exact science of rainmaking.

A top-rate hotel in a pleasant Cape Town suburb steeped in history and tradition

Southern Sun Newlands is a good place to stay, and not just because of the mountain views, says Brian Berkman.

Man on a mission: spreading the Word, fighting slavery and exploring a continent

An intrepid missionary, explorer, physician and legend in his own lifetime, David Livingstone started his career in a mission station at Kuruman, says Graham Jooste.