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In the news section this week, Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at green maize theft in the Free State which has caused some farmers to pay as much as R100 000 per month for security to prevent theft. Ryan says that reports indicate that this crime has escalated to such an extent that food security in the province is under threat.

A similar problem has also been reported in North West.

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Ryan says that the theft of green maize is reportedly organised by criminal syndicates. The crime reportedly occurred during the night when bakkies loaded with maize are stolen and distributed to the informal markets.

This edition also takes a look at South Africa’s wine expansion to other African countries. While South Africa already exports wine to the US and Europe, these markets are currently under pressure due to logistical challenges and Covid-19 trade restrictions, amongst other issues, for this reason, wine exporters have been urged to look to other African countries instead to which to export wine.

Another news story takes a look at the macadamia industry which is experiencing the first year in a decade that prices paid to farmers for macadamia nuts have not increased. According to Ryan, the average amount paid decreased to R226/kg, down from R240/kg. While prices for other tree nuts such as almonds have hit a decade-low, macadamia prices have seen the smallest downturn.

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Shipping issues have caused the greatest upset on the market with China, for example, not receiving many of the nuts they’ve ordered for the Chinese New Year. Ryan says that other orchids coming into production also meant that there would be an uptick in supply, which could see further downward pressure on prices in the future.

This is the same with produce exports as South African citrus growers have been urged to only export the best fruit. This is due to significant uncertainty on the global market and high transport costs, explains Ryan.

She says that exporting marginal fruit could not only damage a farmer’s bottom line, but could also tarnish the reputation of South Africa’s citrus industry. Due to tight margins, farmers also cannot afford to export fruit that would fetch a premium or that does not have a market. Farmers are thus urged to secure contracts with buyers instead of simply exporting their fruit and hoping that they will find a market.

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