See PODCAST below

In the newest edition of Farmer’s Weekly, which will be on shelves from Friday 15 October, readers can expect to read about concerns regarding a shortage of vaccines for livestock diseases in South Africa. Erasmus adds that there is a shortage of vaccines for diseases such as Rift Valley Fever (RVF), amongst other diseases. She says that with the summer rainfall areas of the country expecting good rainfall, there are now concerns that there will likely be a lot of outbreaks of RVF.

Erasmus says that the shortage of these vaccines could be attributed to delays in manufacturing at the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP).

Another article takes a look at the latest cannabis production legislation and how the process to get production and farming of cannabis is legalised in South Africa. Erasmus says that there has been a lot of talk from government so far, with little action to get the regulatory structures in place to allow for the cannabis industry to become commercialised.

Furthermore, Farmer’s Weekly also takes a look at some reports on the fires that have wreaked havoc in central South Africa. Erasmus explains that in some areas over 100 000 hectares of grazing land were destroyed, while in one area over 140 000 hectares of grazing land were destroyed over the last few weeks.

Some of the causes of the wildfires are highlighted in this week’s issue, taking a look at how state land around train tracks is not being kept in the condition that it should be.

OFM News