Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 59 stories
OrganicDeputy minister of water and sanitation Jack Bloom told Western Cape grain farmers that sludge from treatment plants could become a local source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. An environmental adviser warned of heavy metals and salt.
OpinionIn his weekly newsletter, carried by Food for Mzansi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa writes that land title, mentorship and Land Bank blended finance are needed to move emerging black farmers from subsistence to commercial scale.
LivestockDiarrhoea, or scours, is one of the commonest killers of newborn lambs and kids. South African vets and farmers say clean kraals, colostrum within 12 hours and vaccination before birth are the best defence.
LivestockIn a signed column, Agricultural Research Council researchers Adam Swarahla and Dr Walter Shiba argue that smallholder dairy farmers in South Africa's Free State are leaving dairying because they cannot sell milk profitably, and that cooperatives, cooling and value addition could keep them in busine
AgribusinessThe National Agricultural Marketing Council says South Africa's agricultural industry trusts, which fund research, transformation and farmer development, grew by R154 million to R2.76 billion in 2024/25, with the Maize Trust adding the most.
Eastern Cape farmer Palesa Sotshongaye saved her NSFAS stipend for three years, started with spinach, cabbage and chickens, and now supplies schools and two supermarket chains in Qumbu.
VegetablesWith a hot, dry El Niño summer forecast, spinach farmers in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo describe wilting and powdery mildew, and the field changes that help; a researcher says irrigation is the long-term answer.
OrganicAgricultural Writers SA's !Xhariep regional awards honoured an organic vegetable grower who began with five tilapia, a citrus enterprise built by 17 Sundays River Valley producers, and a Grabouw apple farmer whose packhouse throughput rose by two-thirds.
LivestockA Red Meat Industry Services adviser in South Africa sets out the everyday habits that keep cattle healthy: early disease detection, feeding and clean water, timed deworming and vaccination, quarantine and daily records.
CropsSouth Africa's Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy says fuel and electricity inflation is raising costs across farming and the food chain, while a strong El Niño could cut summer crops heading into 2027.
AgribusinessSouth Africa's land reform department will put R500 million in grants into Land Bank's blended finance scheme for the rest of 2026/27, reopening loans for emerging farmers after a pause.
LivestockThando Soroshi of Lady Grey in South Africa's Eastern Cape now keeps about 2,000 broilers, a pig herd producing some 300 piglets a year, sheep, goats and cattle, and runs a shisanyama.
CropsSA Canegrowers wants the health promotion levy dropped in the 21 October medium-term budget, saying it has cost jobs and mills while cane deliveries this season are down 18%.
