We continue to receive encouraging notes about the prospects of La Niña in the 2025/2026 summer season. The La Niña-induced rains will help support field crops, horticulture and grazing veld for livestock. The farmers are optimistic and plan to increase area plantings, primarily of field crops.
One aspect of the agricultural sector that has posed a significant challenge is the livestock industry, which struggles with foot-and-mouth disease. But South Africa is embarking on a nationwide vaccination campaign. Vaccinating more than 12-million cattle (about 7.2-million are in the commercial herd) will be a considerable undertaking.
The better weather outlook, combined with the vaccination campaign, provides optimism that we may transition from a “mixed recovery” in 2025 to a “better recovery” in 2026. We remain optimistic.
Listen to the podcast for more.
Richard Humphries, Sam Mkokeli, Nelisiwe Tshabalala and Amanda Murimba produce this podcast
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