While the 2024 mid-summer drought resulted in a poor grains and oilseed output, the robust harvest of fruit, combined with the recovery in livestock and the better stocks of grains from the previous season, supported South African agricultural export growth in 2024.

South Africa has the contradiction of being the leading agricultural exporter in Africa, and a swelling number of households that is food insecure.

The most impressive feature of two pieces recently published by the Mail & Guardian − on what both appeared to suggest was the unduly anxious and overblown reaction of its critics to the signing of the Expropriation Act – is just how successful they were in alerting us to the grave dangers of this legislation.

At a time of heightened geoeconomic tensions, it is tempting to argue that countries, industries and businesses must align with particular interests or regions. For businesses and industries, the ideal path should be to remain neutral and continue to broaden business activity with a wider range of countries.

While other countries have taken a more confrontational tone in trade policy, South Africa must continue strengthening relations and widening export opportunities for all the export-reliant sectors of the economy.

Since the U.S. authorities announced import tariffs on an unprecedented scale against several countries, the confusion about how practically they will apply lingers.

South Africa, the only African country that is a member of the G20, holds the presidency of the grouping until the end of November 2025. During this time, it could help drive the African continent’s food security agenda.

In political economy, there is something called "flooding the zone". Roughly explained, this is when a deluge of information takes people's attention away from what should be a priority.

South Africa has three months to secure favourable trading terms with Donald Trump or it could be game over in terms of agricultural exports to the US, says Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber.

April is an important month for South Africa's agriculture. On April 30 we are due to receive the Crop Estimate Committee's (CEC) third production forecast for the summer grains and oilseeds, which is typically a stronger indication of how the season's harvest will look as the crop has largely passed the pollination stages.

This month, farming businesses in the Western Cape will start preparing the land for the 2025-26 winter crop production season.

We continue to receive more encouraging data about the recovery of some subsectors of South Africa's agriculture in 2025. One of the latest industries that posted encouraging data is the table grapes. The industry harvested a decent output in the 2024-25 season.

Various factors, both positive and negative, continue to shape South Africa's agricultural sector. Starting on a positive note, early signs suggest a high likelihood that the upcoming 2025-26 summer season may also present favourable rainfall conditions across South Africa.

The primary focus for South Africa's agriculture this week is likely to be on U.S. trade policy, as the cutoff date for the 90-day pause of the higher Liberation Day tariffs approaches.

South Africa's agriculture has had to contend with several urgent issues in recent months, including the need to manage the spread of the foot and mouth disease and the uncertainty around U.S. and global trade.

The agricultural discussions surrounding the Western Cape province of South Africa have primarily focused on the risks presented by the U.S. trade policy shifts in recent months

We are about two months away from the start of South Africa's 2025-26 summer crop season. While some regions are still finalising the 2024-25 summer crop harvest process due to a late start to the season, many will soon begin tilling the land for the next season. This also means our interest in weather conditions and outlook will increase.

Grain production recovery remains one of the key themes for SA's agriculture this year.

Ihave an opportunity to address members of the South African Parliament, mainly the portfolio committee responsible for agriculture, later today (2 September 2025).

This past week, we spent some time on the road, which allowed us to assess early planting activity for the 2025-26 summer crop season