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The newest edition of Farmer’s Weekly, which is the 30 October issue, takes a look at the impact the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown had on specifically the beef industry.

Erasmus says that according to experts, at one point during the pandemic, the demand was so high that premium cuts “like beef steaks, were used in the processing sector, instead of the less appealing cuts that would usually be used in this sector”. She says this was to ease supply and to respond to the low prices in the market.

Erasmus says readers can also look forward to reading about one of the newer niche crops that are currently being produced in South Africa which is dragon fruit. She explains that this industry says that they do however need more research on propagation and farm management techniques to successfully produce dragon fruit in order for the industry to flourish. Erasmus adds that there are currently about 25 dragon fruit farmers in the country, who are planting between 200 and 300 hectares of this crop.

Lastly, this edition takes a look at options for expanding the cotton industry which has been growing from a low about a decade ago. She says this industry has been expanding every year now with even more opportunities which are on the horizon for cotton and other fibres such as wool and mohair.

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