The editor of Farmer’s Weekly, Janine Ryan, shares that in 2022, China registered a population decline for the first time in 60 years. According to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the nation was home to 1.4 billion people in 2022, which was 850 000 fewer people than in 2021.

Ryan adds that China now joins a host of other countries, mostly in Europe, that had negative population growth over the past year. Russia’s population was said to decline by 2030.

Experts have warned that if sustained, the trend could propose a problem for the rest of the world, with China’s second-largest economy playing a key role in driving global growth.

Another story takes a look at sales of agricultural machinery, which are not expected to reach the record highs of 2022 this year. This is as inflation rates and high input costs weighed on farmers.

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This is according to the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), which recently reported that tractor sales in South Africa grew 17% year-on-year in 2022, to reach around 9 200 units. This is the highest sales figure in 40 years.

Agbiz added that combined harvester sales during the same period amounted to around 370 units, which is up 38% from 2021. This is the highest yearly sales figures since 1985.

The Head of Information and Marketing at FNB, Dawie Maree, told Farmer’s Weekly that the lower interest rates over the past two years had given farmers a reprieve from their debt. This enabled them to buy new machinery. However, it is expected that this trend will decline from around June 2023, with ever-increasing input costs, trade friction and logistical problems resulting in less cashflow for farmers.

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Furthermore, Farmer’s Weekly also looks at the impact of load-shedding on the wine grape harvest, with the 2023 harvest expected to be substantially smaller than the 2022 harvest. The harvest is also expected to be the fourth smallest in 17 years.

The Manager of Consulting Services at Vinpro, Conrad Schutte, says production is expected to be down in all wine-producing regions, and substantially down in the Northern Cape and Swartland.

The exception is in the Klein Karoo where production was previously very low due to drought.

Ryan states that one of the reasons for the decline in production was due to continued rolling blackouts, which meant that farmers could not irrigate their crops at critical times. Schutte adds that this will lead to a smaller harvest.

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