by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 23, 2020 | Agricultural Production
Pineapples are one of the fruits I seldom cover in this blog, but the recent uptick in production and consumption warrants some attention. First, after hovering at levels below 100 000 tonnes for roughly six seasons, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 20, 2020 | Agricultural Production
This essay first appeared on Business Day, August 18, 2020 SA is about a month-and-a-half from the start of the 2020/2021 summer crop planting season. Commodity prices and the weather outlook are the most important indicators of farmers’ potential planting decisions...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 13, 2020 | Agricultural Production
This essay first appeared on Business Day, August 13, 2020 Tempus fugit (time flies) is an apt phrase to describe developments in the global agricultural market. It feels like just the other day when I wrote an update note on global grain conditions following the...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 9, 2020 | Agricultural Production
There is a growing volume of literature outlining what ought to be done to reconstruct the economy after the devastation of this pandemic. I have certainly added to these write-ups, by outlining options for igniting growth in South Africa’s agricultural sector along...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 1, 2020 | Agricultural Production
It has become increasingly challenging to forecast agricultural production seasons with any level of confidence. One of the factors that have contributed to this challenge is more unpredictable weather conditions, especially over the last decade. SA has not only...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Jul 23, 2020 | Agricultural Production
This essay first appeared on Business Day, July 21, 2020 As SA’s summer crop — which includes maize — is set to be one of the best on record, focus now shifts to the outlook for winter crops, specifically wheat. Alas, for wheat farmers the 2020/2021 season had a bad...
