* Werksmans Legal Brief
 The need for land expropriation must be characterised and understood as being foremost about social justice and a constitutional imperative. It is about the majority's anticipation of the reversal of a deliberate, systematic and legislated eradication of a nation's sense of dignity, belonging, culture and history. It is a wound that has festered long enough -
Read more
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This year promises to be a fairly good one for South African consumers, particularly from a food cost perspective. The deceleration in food inflation that was observed in 2017 could again prevail this year as large grain stocks and the expected good harvest in the current production season continue to underpin the market. In 2017, food inflation decelerated to 7.0%, from 10.5% in 2016, thanks to a robust agricultural output. Indeed, the slowdown has continued into 2018 with food price inflation reaching a multi-year low of 3.5%
year-on-year (y/y)
in March.
Read Wandile Sihlobo's full essay»
Wandile Sihlobo is Agbiz Head: Economic Research
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The South African cattle industry is characterized by dualism - a well-developed commercial sector and an informal sector consisting of many communal subsistence farmers and a growing number of emerging farmers. In 2016, the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimated the national cattle herd to be about 13.4 million
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About 60 percent this herd is owned by the commercial farmers while the emerging and communal farmers account for the remaining 40 percent. Read more on this blogpost
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 South Africa is in for a fairly good harvest in 2017/18 production season. This was confirmed by the third production forecasts released by the National Crop Estimate Committee this afternoon. All summer crop production estimates were revised up from previous month's levels, with the exception of dry beans. In the same vein, winter crop farmers intend to increase the area plantings this upcoming season. This bodes well for trade and food inflation dynamics, as production volumes of major crops such as maize are set to be well above domestic consumption needs. Considering the domestic annual maize need of roughly 10.5 million tonnes, at the back of expected 12.8 million tonnes of production, coupled with a carryover stock of 4.1 million tonnes, South Africa could see exports exceeding 2.2 million tonnes in the 2018/19 marketing year which starts on 01 May 2018.
Wandile Sihlobo explains more on the linked article»
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Click here to read the daily market view on commodities and the weekly wrap.
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| INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT |
 In February 2018, the cumulative agricultural exports were valued at R20.89 billion leading to a positive net trade of R3.736 billion. Agricultural exports were dominated by the table grapes, stone-fruit, wine, cuttlefish and tilapia. The top five destination markets for agricultural exports were the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique. Meanwhile, the agricultural imports were led by wheat, rice, chicken meat and live cattle originating from China, Germany, Namibia and Brazil.
Sifiso Ntombela, trade economist and Agbiz Head: International Trade and Investment Intelligence provides more information in the
linked document»
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 The road freight strategy plan was approved by cabinet
in May 2017
and is part of the Ministerial agreement in the National Development Plan. The Department of Transport recently held a meeting to discuss the implementation of the road freight strategy. Mariana Purnell, General Manager of Agbiz Grain attended in order to participate in the discussions around the issues of the "road to rail" drive and how it impacts the grain industry. Click here to read the strategy document»
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Closing date for registration: 10 May 2018
Congress: 7-8 June 2018
Welcome Function: 6 June 2018
Gala Dinner: 7 June 2018
Agbiz AGM: 8 June 2018
We look forward to seeing you at the 2018 Agbiz Congress. Follow all the latest about the 2018 Agbiz Congress and join the conversation on social media by posting and tweeting using the official congress hashtag #AGBIZcongress18
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NAMPO
15-18 May 2017 | NAMPO Park | Bothaville
More information
21 to 25 May 2018 | South Africa
The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), The World Academy of Sciences Regional Office for sub-Saharan Africa (TWAS-ROSSA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) are seeking candidates to participate in the inaugural regional training workshop on science diplomacy to be held in South Africa.
More information
World Potato Congress
27-31 May 2018 | Peru | South America
Potatoes SA Transformation Symposium
7 June 2018 | Pretoria
More information
4th Annual Competition and Economic Regulation (ACER) week
16-20 July 2018 | Johannesburg
More information»
Manufacturing Indaba
19-20 June 2018 | Sandton Convention Centre | Johannesburg
More information
Vision 2030 Summit
20-21 June 2018 | Emperors Palace | Gauteng
More information
Farmer's Weekly Argentina Tour 2018
22 June - 1 July 2018
More information
IFAMA World Conference
23-27 June 2018 | Buenos Aires | Argentina
More information
Regional Trade Facilitation Forum for grain stakeholders in the Eastern & Southern Africa region
28 June 2018 | Lusaka | Zambia
The Forum is expected to convene sellers and buyers of grain commodities from the Southern and Eastern Africa regions to network and execute trade deals.
Invitation letter
Programme
Registration form
FW Agribusiness Africa Conference
18-19 July 2018 | Emperors Palace
Enquiries: Marianna du Plessis, e-mail
africa@caxton.co.za
International Soy for Human Health Conference
1-3 August 2018 | St George Hotel and Conference Centre | Pretoria
More information
PMA Fresh Connections Southern Africa Conference and Tradeshow
15-16 August, 2018 |
CSIR | Pretoria
Early bird registrations now open
Agbiz Grain Symposium
21 August 2018 | Pretoria
AGRI 5 Commodities Workshop & Expo
20-21 September 2018
Venue: East London Show Grounds
Contact info: 011 056 6856
56th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA)
25-27 September 2018 | Lord Charles Hotel | Somerset-West
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Being a member of Agbiz provides various benefits and opportunities
- Agbiz is the only organisation that serves the broader and common over-arching business interests of agribusinesses in South Africa.
- Agbiz addresses the legislative and policy environment on the many fronts that it impacts on the agribusiness environment.
- Agbiz facilitates considerable top-level networking opportunities so that South African agribusinesses can play an active and creative role within the local and international organised business environment.
- Agbiz research provides sector specific information for informed decision making.
- Agbiz newsletter publishes members' press releases and member product announcements.
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Third-party website links to this newsletter
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The Agbiz Newsletter may contain a few links to websites that belong to third parties unrelated to us. By making these links available, we are not endorsing third-party websites, their content, products, services or their events. Agbiz seeks to protect the integrity of its newsletter and links placed upon it, and therefore welcomes any feedback.
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