South Africa

Many South African farmers are going beyond what is expected from Earth Day, celebrated today across on 22 April.

On 17 April, exactly 363 years ago, the first apples were harvested at the Cape of Good Hope when Dutch Governor Jan van Riebeeck picked two apples, known as Wijnappels, from a young tree in the Company Gardens in Cape Town.

The number of road fatalities over Easter weekend increased 33% from 252 in 2023 to 335 in 2024, while fatal crashes increased 14% from 207 to 236, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation.

The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has launched the Electronic Deeds Registration System (eDRS). Although the agriculture sector has welcomed the move to modernise property registration, concerns remain about how smoothly the transition from a manual to an electronic system will unfold.

The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) recently raised alarm over Namibia’s decision to reinstate its ban on the importation of bovine semen and embryos from South Africa as of 8 April, warning that the move could severely disrupt the red meat value chain between the two countries.

The finance MECs of various provinces recently delivered their respective provincial budgets for the 2025/26 financial year, outlining allocations to the agriculture sector amid economic constraints.

Speakers at the Agri Western Cape’s regional congress recently held in Grabouw encouraged members to check facts and not become upset or misled by misinformation.

With the theme ‘Global agriculture, locally!’, this year’s Nampo Harvest Day (Nampo) is expected to draw more than 70 000 visitors to Nampo Park in Bothaville from 13 to 16 May.

Outbreaks of green longhorn grasshoppers, also known as katydids or bush crickets, were recently reported in several areas across Mpumalanga, including Aerorand, Rondebosch, Kanonkop, Emalahleni, and Middelburg.

US President Donald Trump announced on 2 April that he would impose at least a 10% tariff on all exports to the United States, with some 60 nations, including key trading partners like China, the European Union, Japan, and Vietnam, facing even higher duties.

South Africa’s tractor park has been growing steadily in size and power over the past 20 years, reflecting the need for greater efficiency, particularly in areas with short planting windows.

A new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, bringing the province's total to 147 active outbreaks out of the 165 reported in South Africa.