After a challenging 2023/2024 summer crop season, which saw South Africa’s grains and oilseeds production falling by 24% year on year to 15.39Mt, the recovery period may be in sight.
Data released by the crop estimates committee on October 29 shows that South African farmers intend to plant 4.47-million hectares of summer grains and oilseeds in the 2024/2025 season. This is up by 1% from the previous season.
The planting intentions for white maize are at 1.58-million hectares (up 1% y/y), and for yellow maize at 1.06-million hectares (down 2% y/y). The overall maize planting intentions are at 2.64-million hectares (up 0.2% y/y), which aligns with the five-year average area. The planting intentions for soybeans are at 1.2-million hectares (up by 0.2% y/y), the largest area on record.
The sunflower seed planting intention is 540,000ha (up 2.1% y/y), slightly below the average planting of 554,000ha. The planting intentions for groundnuts are 40,000ha (down 2.9% y/y), sorghum at 54,000ha (up 28% y/y), and dry beans at 45,000ha (up 14% y/y).
We think there are three primary drivers of this optimism. Listen to the podcast for more insights.
My writing on agricultural economic matters is available on my blog: https://wandilesihlobo.com
This podcast is produced by Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, Nelisiwe Tshabalala and Amanda Murimba
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