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This week’s edition of Farmer’s Weekly once again contains a jam-packed news section.

Ryan shares that with more outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in South Africa, China has banned the imports of all cloven-hoofed animals and their products from South Africa. She says that as a result, Cape Wools SA has postponed all wool auctions until further notice, pending greater clarity from Chinese authorities on the nature and duration of the ban.

ALSO READ: Wool industry heavily impacted by China’s ban on imports due to FMD

China is South Africa’s biggest importer of raw wool – accounting for about 80% of South Africa’s exports.

Since the ban FMD have also been reported in the Free State and Gauteng.

In another wool related story, Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at the EU’s decision to adopt a strategy for a sustainable and circular textile sector. Ryan adds that this strategy will be highly beneficial to South African wool growers. 

According to Leon de Beer, the National Wool Growers' Association of South Africa, the EU’s strategy involves the reusing of materials and fibres for improved sustainability as wool has an excellent reuse value and is readably recyclable. This could mean that the demand for wool from South Africa will increase in the EU.

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Locust control in the Karoo also comes under the spotlight in this edition, with Pieter Knoesen, the chairperson of the Steytlerville Agricultural Association, saying the failure to effectively control swarms in the south-eastern Karoo could be blamed on the ineptitude of the national agriculture department. He adds that when insecticides are available for spraying, the privately-owned helicopters used for the purpose are grounded for no particular reason, and when they are not grounded, no insecticides are available.

Lastly, Farmer’s Weekly also takes a look at why organised agricultural structures have become particularly critical for farmers. Ryan says this is mostly due to the state’s inability to provide basic services.

Theuns Eloff, the chairperson of Astral Foods, adds that this means that it then becomes the responsibility of organised agriculture structures to provide these services for the benefit of their members. He says different organisations needs to address the different needs of their members, and while they were technically in competition with one another, these organisations needed to work together in order to survive and strengthen agriculture in the country.

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