MEC Thembeni Nxangisa said during his budget speech last week that the department also plans on implementing initiatives and projects involving commodities such as vegetables, piggeries, pastures for fodder, livestock, and grains in the Free State in the new financial year. Adding to that, the department has identified six towns in the province for cannabis research.

Green maize theft in the Free State has escalated to such an extent that food security in the province is under threat. Janine Ryan, editor of Farmer's Weekly, says that this is according to reports which also indicate that a similar problem has been reported in North West. Ryan says that the theft of green maize is reportedly organised by criminal syndicates. The crime allegedly occurs during the night after which the stolen maize is distributed to informal markets.

It is of the utmost importance that government and farmers' associations prioritise improving South Africa's biosecurity systems. This is according to Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber, after the National Department of Agriculture confirmed positive cases of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the North West and Limpopo. OFM News' Elsabé Richard reports that the department also stated that the outbreak of this disease in KwaZulu-Natal was still continuing and that it has kicked off a vaccination campaign.

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Agricultural experts believe some R1 billion worth of export fruit will not reach their destinations in the northern hemisphere due to logistical and power issues at the Cape Town harbour. This represents about 10% of the total exports. Chairperson of the World Farmers Organisation, Theo de Jager, says farmers are losing millions in revenue due to power issues at state-owned company Transnet and Portnet. According to De Jager farmers from South Africa and Zimbabwe lost more than 60 containers of stock at the harbour. He says South Africa is not only losing out foreign currency but losing thousands of jobs.





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