The agricultural sector has warned Eskom several times that its plans will result in it losing the agricultural sector as a customer. The latest plan to impose drastic charges on fixed costs is no exception. Currently the average bill is…
The latest national election delivered a lot of surprises as well as disappointments. The outcome gives a clear voice to South Africans’ needs. Various discussions are underway regarding possible coalitions. There is therefore uncertainty but also hope and politicians have…
Free State Agriculture, in collaboration with the private security company LGV, has trained 16 additional Psira registered private investigators on livestock theft over the past 2 days. This brings the total number of investigators to 21. According to Peet Swanepoel,…
Farmers in the Free State are at a loss with the increasing theft of maize that occurs in various parts of the province. Rudi Jansen van Vuuren, safety representative of Free State Agriculture (FSA) in the Allanridge/Odendaalsrus area, says that…
The Minister of Police recently released crime statistics for the third quarter of the financial year, from 1 October to 31 December 2023. Dr Jane Buys, Safety risk analyst for Free State Agriculture, compiled a report (in Afrikaans) which can…
“In the wake of the 1st outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in the Free State, Free State Agriculture (FSA) took decisive action,” stated Francois Wilken, President of Free State Agriculture. “Our members mandated Congress to urgently investigate an animal…
“Frustration levels of farmers continue to rise as they don’t see any of the promised improvements in the rural roads that are steadily declining! This forces farmers to jump in and do basic repairs or pay blader operators themselves, just…
In the past years the higher instances of load shedding have affected food production negatively. Typically, irrigation farmers have been affected in that they were not able to water crops during critical stages. For example, with the recent heatwave conditions,…
The current heatwave condition, together with phase 6 load shedding, is putting tremendous stress on especially maize and soybean crops on dry land and even under irrigation in several regions in the Free State. “The confluence of circumstances is causing…