The South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) held its annual general meeting (AGM) this past week. After adoption, SAGIS also released its annual report for the 2019/2020 financial year. SAGIS is a world-class South African grain and oilseeds industry institution, functioning under statutory measures, and provides essential market information services to all role players in the respective grain and oilseed industries. This ensures a transparent and credible basis for decision-making in the industry. Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase was re-elected as chairman of the board, while Mariana Purnell and Dr Erhard Briedenhann were elected as deputy chairpersons. Please click on SAGIS Annual Report to peruse.

Covid-19 will be a reality for our foreseeable future. To successfully operate under these new conditions, we need to innovate, rapidly adjust and adopt new ways of working, interacting and taking care of each other. On Tuesday, Business for South Africa hosted a webinar on "Functioning in the age of Covid-19", with Anglo American and the Return2Work initiative. 

During the webcast, Nolitha Fakude, chairperson of Anglo American's management board in South Africa, Dr Charles Mbekeni, lead for health for Anglo American in South Africa, and Tanya Cohen on behalf of Return2Work and Citizens in Solidarity shared leadership lessons and practical tips on how business can adapt and respond to support the lives and livelihoods of employees and communities. The panelists also shared information about resources and tools that can be used by businesses of all sizes. Please click here for links to the recording of the webinar, as well as other resources mentioned during the webinar.

The global grains environment has changed somewhat from the optimistic picture of a few weeks ago. The increased dryness in parts of Europe and the US is weighing on global crop production, specifically maize and wheat, and this has raised the prospects for downward revision of yields estimates. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was the first of major institutions at the start of this month to lower its estimates for US maize and wheat production. This was followed by the EU's production estimates, primarily on the back of concerns about yield prospects. In the linked Fin 24 article, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo explains why the global grains outlook is no longer as rosy as a few weeks ago and how wheat-importing countries such as South Africa stand to benefit from large global supplies.

The rural economy should not be forgotten in South Africa's post-Covid-19 recovery plans. This is still an important segment of society and the economy, though 68% of the population now lives in urban areas. Apart from its reliance on remittances and social transfer payments, the one outstanding characteristic of the rural economy is its dependence on a few key industries, all of which are typically resource-based, such as agriculture, mining, fishing, tourism and forestry. In the linked article, written for and first published in Business Day, Wandile Sihlobo and Prof. Johann Kirsten, professor of agricultural economics at Stellenbosch University and director of the Bureau of Economic Research, write that "we need to confront infrastructure and governance constraints that have hindered the growth of agriculture over the past two decades".

As South Africa'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 start because of dry weather conditions, and production forecasts looked bleak.
The Western Cape, which typically accounts for two-thirds of South Africa's winter wheat plantings, experienced a delay of about three weeks in plantings. Ahead of the start of the season, the crop estimates committee projected that plantings could fall by 2% year on year in the province. And after accounting for unfavourable weather conditions in other provinces, the committee estimated an overall 8% year-on-year decline in national winter wheat plantings for the 2020/2021 season. But that dim view is quickly changing after early rains enabled farmers to accelerate plantings in the Western Cape and other provinces. Wandile Sihlobo reports that the prospects in the Western Cape are looking good should there be follow-up rains in the coming month. Read more in the linked article, written for and first published in Business Day.