Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 12 stories
CropsFirst planting-intention figures show South African maize area down 12.37% to 2.387 million hectares and white maize down more than 18%, while sunflower plans have jumped almost 45%.
CropsA farmer's guide on FarmingPortal explains how heavy axle loads compact soil, how a single pass of 10-ton axles can cut corn yields by up to 27 percent in a dry year, and how wider, low-pressure tyres, dry-soil traffic and varied tillage depths help prevent damage.
Homestead farmingThe share of South African households farming fell from 19.9% in 2011 to 13.8% in 2022, eroding a low-cost food security buffer, while women now head most of the households that still farm.
CropsAgbiz expects no major cut in South Africa's 4.6 million hectares of summer crops despite a strong El Nino and higher fertiliser and fuel costs, after a record maize harvest.
EnvironmentSea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific reached 3.08 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average on 21 September, the most extreme daily reading for any El Nino on record.
AgribusinessA University of the Free State team surveyed 132 small-scale farming households in two former homelands and found labour, infrastructure and aspirations limit farming more than land does.
CropsWandile Sihlobo of Agbiz expects wheat imports of about 2.0 million tonnes as the 2026-27 crop is estimated at 1.8 million tonnes, while world prices have risen on logistics disruptions rather than short supply.
AgribusinessWillie Aucamp says the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan needs more momentum, from 10,000 trained extension officers to secure land tenure, faster input registrations and new export markets.
Market ManagementAn analysis on FarmingPortal warns that costs locked in during 2026, from diesel to imported fertiliser and finance, could meet a very strong El Niño and turn next year's crop into an expensive, lower-yielding one.
LivestockA World Animal Protection and Collective Fashion Justice investigation, 'Blood Feathers', links farms supplying luxury and fast-fashion brands to painful plucking.
Market ManagementChina's expanded export allowance has cooled the urea market: India's RCF tender drew lowest offers of about $390 a tonne, 58% below April's emergency purchases, though prices remain above year-ago levels.
An Agbiz outlook carried by FarmingPortal: local fertiliser prices were 20% above a year earlier at the end of August with Brent above US$100, tractor sales have fallen four months running to 606 units in August (down 13%), foot-and-mouth restrictions leave few export outlets if drought forces cattl
