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In the latest edition of Farmer’s Weekly, which will be available from Friday 11 June, the magazine takes a look at an update on South Africa’s soybean crop outlook for 2021. Erasmus adds that according to the Crop Estimates Committee’s (CEC) fourth production forecast for this year’s soybean crop, it could be the largest in South Africa’s history. She further states that the forecast shows that the harvest could yield around 1,92 million tons of soybeans at an average yield of 2,23 tons per hectare. These figures show an increase of about 7% from the previous estimate for the season of 1,8 million tons. According to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), this bumper crop comes at the back of an expansion in area planted. It is estimated that about 826 000 hectares of soybeans would be planted this season in comparison with 700 000 hectares planted in 2020.

The magazine also sheds some light on a decline of stock theft cases being reported. According to Willie Clack, chairperson of the National Stock Theft Prevention Forum, although they welcomed the annual decrease in stock theft, it has found a sharp decline in the reporting of stock theft cases in South Africa.

Erasmus says that the latest figures that were released by the forum for the 2020/21 period, showed a near 13% drop in the number of stock theft cases reported – with the largest decreases recorded in the North West, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. However, she adds that Dr Jane Buys, safety and risk specialist at Free State Agriculture (FSA), says that it is very important for farmers to report all cases of stock theft in order for a clear picture to be formed about the extent of the problem.

Furthermore, another article takes a look at a report pertaining to South African ports. Erasmus says that according to a report released recently by the global Container Port Performance Index, which was recently launched by the World Bank, local ports “are the worst in the world”. The report has listed the ports of Cape Town at 347th place out of 351 harbours, while Durban’s harbour is listed at 349th place.

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