Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 62 stories
OrganicNemlab consultant Sheila Storey says a balanced soil food web of fungi, bacteria and nematodes recycles nutrients, holds water and helps crops resist pests, and that six soil-health principles, not quick fixes, are what build it.
LivestockVeterinary consultant Dr Ryan Davies told the World Wagyu Conference that calves need good colostrum within one to two hours and that a Brix refractometer shows whether it is good enough.
LivestockBetween 5% and 10% of the kudu at Addo Elephant National Park are lame, red hartebeest and eland show signs, and vets are watching the park's fenced buffalo herds closely.
LivestockDr Dave Midgley of the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa says subclinical illness quietly cuts wool, growth, milk and fertility, and that prevention and the right genetics cost far less.
EnvironmentEnvironment MEC Ewan Botha warned that El Niño could worsen water shortages and crop losses for small and dryland farmers, while an insurer proposed subsidised premiums for small-scale growers.
Livestock2 Broers Dormers' 36.86 kg super lamb fetched R3,000 a kilogram, a national record for a single lamb carcass, while Vredesig Dormers & Suffolk won six of the 12 carcass awards.
CropsAt the Conservation Agriculture Research Forum in Potchefstroom, researchers using the DRiS method and farmer trial leaders argued that soil nutrient ratios and on-farm testing matter more than high fertiliser rates.
LivestockMatthew Fraser-Jones of Stonehouse Cheese Estate in South Africa's Western Cape makes cheese from about half his herd's milk, feeds the whey to pigs and has dropped silage to protect his cheeses.
CropsRyegrass in the Swartland wheat belt is the best-known case. Agronomists from Corteva, Syngenta, CropLife and the University of Adelaide say rotating modes of action alone will not stop resistance.
LivestockA South African outreach adviser sets out what piglets, weaners, growers, finishers, gilts, sows and boars need, and what goes wrong when small farmers feed only bran or scraps.
Agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo and broadcaster Lourensa Eckard told AgriSA's congress that farmers cannot keep making up for failing roads, ports and services, and that public money must be judged by results.
AgribusinessA new Farmer's Weekly farm-finance series by Cobus du Plessis argues that skilled smallholders become commercial farmers by measuring costs, margins and cash flow, not by farming more land.
South Africa's farm lobby endorsed mandates on land, water, labour, rural safety and trade at its 14 October congress, citing 30% irrigation losses, a record $15.1bn in exports and R4.2bn lost to port inefficiency.
