He also provides more information about the latest developments in the agricultural sector. 

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This week, Sihlobo gives an update on South Africa's agricultural conditions.

“We continue to see convincing signals pointing to yet another favourable agricultural season for South Africa, and the broader Southern Africa region in 2022/23.

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“In their Seasonal Climate Watch report last week, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) highlighted that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation is currently in a La Niña state, and forecasts indicate that it will likely remain in this state during the remainder of 2022 and early 2023.

“A La Niña event usually has the strongest impact on rainfall during the mid-summer months. With the continued strengthening of the La Niña event, there is a high chance that it will have its usual effect on South Africa, generally for above-normal rainfall and below-normal temperatures over the summer rainfall areas.

“This suggests a move from the weak La Niña state we anticipated a few months ago to a more normal state in the country and the region. The likely improvement in soil moisture from now until February 2023 is a welcome development as this period covers the cultivation to the pollination stages of the crop,” says Sihlobo.

He adds that farmers and agribusinesses should remain vigilant over the next three months, which will likely be a high rainfall period.

“Over the past few weeks, we have already seen encouraging momentum in planting activity in the eastern regions of South Africa, mainly in the yellow maize and soybeans growing regions.

“From mid-November, we could see the planting activity increasing in central and western regions of South Africa, which predominantly plants white maize and sunflower seed.

“The farmers we engaged thus far also sounded positive about the upcoming season, although rising input costs, especially for fuel, fertilizer, and agrochemicals, were consistently flagged as a major challenge for farmers.

“The general optimism is undeniably clear from the Crop Estimates Committee's intentions-to-plant data, where farmers noted that they could plant 4,35 million hectares for summer grains and oilseeds in 2022/23, up by 0,2% from the previous season.

“The improvement in the area plantings is expected to primarily be on soybeans, while other crops, such as maize, maintain a generally normal area above the 10- year average.

“Over the coming weeks, we will closely monitor planting activity to assess if it meets or exceeds expectations.

“It will only be on 26 January 2023 when the Crop Estimates Committee will release the preliminary area planted estimates and its first production forecast data towards the end of February that we will have a better indication,” concludes Sihlobo.

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