According to Agri SA, the Bill in its current form will have negative consequences for the economy, should it proceed to be promulgated by the President. OFM News' Elsabé Richard-May reports the organisation explains in a statement that what is especially concerning about the Bill, is its negative impact on South Africa's shared commitment to building a more inclusive agricultural sector. Agri SA further adds that the Expropriation Bill’s provision for nil compensation will result in a future of policy uncertainty for the agricultural sector.

Botswana plans to slaughter about 10 000 cattle to curb an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The first major outbreak in two years forced Botswana to suspend all beef exports on August 24. Annually it exports about 9 000 tonnes of beef to the European Union. Assistant minister of agriculture, Molebatsi Molebatsi, told AFP that 9 757 cattle are expected to be culled in northeastern villages bordering Zimbabwe. He warned that numbers of infected cattle "keep on increasing". There are some 19 000 in the affected region.

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Studies are being done to look at alternative uses for the surplus sugarcane South Africa has been producing. The South African Sugar Association says that this research is being conducted because approximately 400 000 tonnes of the 1.8 million tonnes of sugarcane produced locally, during the previous season, had to be exported at a loss. Julinda Schroeder from Farmer's Weekly says the studies are funded by the Department of Science and Innovation as well as the University of Stellenbosch.

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