This is down more than 3% from the previous season.

The editor of Farmer's Weekly, Janine Ryan, says the area estimate for white maize is just over 1.47 million hectares, decreasing about 6% compared to the previous season.

Ryan adds that for yellow maize, the estimate was 1.07 million hectares, which is about 1.9% down from the previous season.

Farmers are also expected to plant approximately 670 000 hectares to sunflower. This number is 15.23%. For groundnuts, the estimate stands at 31 200 hectares.

The CEC further estimated that farmers would plant close to 1.1 million hectares to soybean, which is about 19% more than the previous season. According to Ryan, this is the highest soybean estimate in South Africa.

The area estimate for sorghum is down 8.6% to 34 000 hectares.

Farmer’s Weekly also takes a look at the importance of animal-human relationships. The article takes a look at the host of psychological benefits for both parties. Ryan says that owning a pet or companion animal has numerous advantages for a human’s emotional well-being. These benefits include making humans feel less anxious and more relaxed.

Companion animals have also been shown to have social benefits encouraging a community among people who own similar pets.

In the livestock section this week, Farmer’s Weekly speaks to Divan Maritz, a goat farmer and owner of Koati Boer Goat Stud in Mpumalanga. He shares how he started farming with this type of goat. He cites the fact that there is a lot of unused land on the farm as one of the reasons.

LEES OOK: Die vraag in Suid-Afrika na boerbokke neem toe

The goats browse and graze on land that is not suitable for nut production, and also provide additional income for the farm.

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