Symington wrote to Free State Agriculture and asked for help for especially the farmers in the Boesmanland region, where farmers are struggling to make a living due to the ongoing drought. He says the latest information from the Department of Agriculture's research centre indicates that the rain that fell in the southwestern and central parts of the province in July this year, were not nearly enough to make a difference to the fields. Symington says maize and similar products are essential to ensure the survival of livestock farmers in the Northern Cape. Meanwhile, Agri Northern Cape thanked Free State farmers who have been providing assistance for the past two years.

South Africa has seen a drop in farmer numbers and an increase in concentration in challenges for small-scale farmers. According to Siyabulela Makunga, spokesperson for the Competition Commission, this was made known in the commission's latest Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report which focused on tracking the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis on food markets. He adds that the report showed that South Africa had 3 899 dairy farmers in January 2007, which dropped to 1 053 in January 2021. Makunga says there are concerns with market power across the value chain with farmers, especially small farmers, facing low operating margins.

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There is uncertainty amongst poultry farmers about whether they will receive money from the government for chickens that had to be culled due to the outbreak of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza virus. Denene Erasmus, editor of Farmer's Weekly, says this virus was confirmed in South Africa in April and it still remains unclear whether the government will compensate farmers for all the losses they’ve suffered. She adds that about 2,7 million chickens had to be culled due to this outbreak. Erasmus adds that according to Breytenbach the the South African Poultry Association has about 269 egg producers who all have between 5 000 and 200 000 layers. Many of these farmers had to cull all of their chickens and they still have not been able to replace the birds.

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