The department has launched a programme called Proactive Land Acquisition with the aim to assist young farmers with land and the processes that must be followed to acquire it. OFM News' correspondent, Lee Simmons, reports the announcement was made at a young farmer’s dialogue hosted by the department on a farm in Viljoenskroon.

Poor service delivery is impacting South African farmers negatively. This is according to Dr Pieter Oberem, Managing Director of animal health company Afrivet. He says farmers are increasingly being left to their own devices and with very little support from government despite the fact that they pay taxes. Janine Ryan editor of Farmer's Weekly adds that Oberem says while farmers were paying taxes for roads, electricity and medical services, they still have to take it upon themselves to fix roads and pay for private services.

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The GDP and employment numbers of the first quarter of this year confirm that agriculture in the Western Cape is pushing forward. This is according to the MEC of Agriculture in the Western Cape, Ivan Meyer. He says that Stats SA's recently released Quarterly Labour Force Statistics highlights that the Western Cape had an overall positive employment growth of 1.5%. Meanwhile, the Free State has gained 29 000 jobs year-on-year, representing a 52.7% increase.

OFM News