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Farmer’s Weekly shares some good news this week as China lifted its ban on the import of greasy wool from South Africa, which was implemented in April this year following numerous reports of positive cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). 

Billy van Zyl, the chairperson of the National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA), told Farmer’s Weekly that the lifting of the ban came just in time as a continuation of the ban would have had a devastating impact on the entire wool value chain.

ALSO READ: Lifting of wool import ban by China widely welcomed

He added that the impact on communal and smallholder wool producers had been particularly crushing. Ryan adds that according to the Department of Agriculture, the South African wool industry had already lost an estimated R734 million due to the ban on wool exports to China.

Another news story takes a look at the current shortage of watermelons in South Africa’s market. Ryan explains that on South Africa’s fresh produce market, watermelons had been selling for about R150 each.

A market agent at Exec-U-Fruit, says year-round the demand for watermelons was driven by the tourism and catering industry in Mauritius, Madagascar and Zanzibar, as well as South Africa’s upmarket hotel industry.

Furthermore, the impact of a major hike in packaging prices on South Africa’s citrus producers is also covered in this week’s edition of Farmer’s Weekly. Ryan says packaging prices have increased 20 – 22% over the recent past, which added more pressure to citrus farmers’ already shrinking profits.

She says that the increase in packaging prices comes in a challenging third quarter for South African paper company, Sappi. The company reported that Covid-19-related lockdowns in China and the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war had exerted further pressure on global supply chains and energy prices, resulting in inflation during the period.

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