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In the 2 July issue of Farmer’s Weekly, which will be in stores on 25 June, the magazine takes a look at what has been happening with the South African olive industry so far this year. Erasmus says that the international spike in vegetable oil has unfortunately affected local olive oil producers negatively.

She adds that according to Vittoria Jooste, manager of the South African Olive Industry Association (SA Olive), there had only been marginal increases in international olive oil prices. However, she explains that even these marginal increases have been difficult to pass on to the domestic food trade or the retail sector.

This is due to local prices being considerably constrained due to the Covid-19 lockdowns on the hospitality sector as well as on consumer spending.

This issue also includes an update on the table grape harvest. Erasmus says that producers had indicated that even though it was quite a difficult season to manage, they did end on a record high.

Willem Bestbier, CEO of the South African Table Grape Association, says that despite high production volumes, this was probably one of the most difficult and least profitable years for the industry. He adds that this was due to unexpected rainfall, logistical problems as well as the strength of the Rand over the last couple of months.

The table grape industry exports about 95% of its product.

Meanwhile, a total of 74,5 million cartons of table grapes were harvested, which was 6,9 million cartons more than the previous record harvest that occurred in the 2016/17 season.

Lastly, another article sheds some light on the local bee farming sector. Erasmus says that industry role-players are of the opinion that inaccurate data is impeding planning in terms of pollination services for South African farmers.

With that being said, Professor Robin Crewe, biologist and honeybee expert, says that it is unclear whether South Africa has enough honeybees and beekeepers to provide adequate pollination services if the country’s agricultural production continues to increase.

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