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The 6 November issue of Farmer’s Weekly sheds light on Namibian livestock farmers who have been devastated by prolonged drought. Erasmus explains that beef cattle sales in Namibia have fallen 31% so far this year compared to the same period in 2019. She adds Jacque Els, CEO of the Namibian Stud Breeders’ Association, says the decline of the commotion in stud livestock industries was directly as a result of the relentless drought in the country during the past decade.

Another story featured in the news section of the magazine highlights that the good winter rain in South Africa has a favourable outlook for the stone fruit producers in the country. Erasmus says this follows a few difficult seasons when the country’s main stone fruit production areas in the Western Cape also experienced drought conditions. Meanwhile, Hortgro has released its first crop estimate for the 2020/21 season and states that overall volumes look much better compared to this time last year. Hortgro is expecting about 19 million cartons of stone fruit to be harvested this season.

Readers can look forward to also reading an update about the South African blueberry harvest which have been progressing well. Erasmus says that, however, cold weather in parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga during the production season has resulted in a slightly lower forecast for blueberries. She says the current estimate for the 2020/21 season is down from 23 000 tonnes earlier this year to 22 000 tonnes for the year.

Lastly, Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at how privately funded research is important to counter what Dr John Purchase, CEO of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), calls the erosion of state capacity. Erasmus explains Purchase says the ongoing loss of expertise, capacity and reliability at state research institutions, such as the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), has forced the agricultural value chain to forge ahead in terms of privately funded agricultural research.

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