In December each year I drive from the northern regions of South Africa to the Wild Coast. The long drive serves an important purpose for an agriculturalist such as myself, as it gives me a window into the vegetation and agricultural conditions across our beautiful country. This year was no different, and the sight was uplifting: lush and green.
This indicates another rainy summer after last year’s good precipitation.. For livestock farmers, the grazing veld looks healthy, which significantly eases feeding costs. For those who grow fruit and vegetables that require irrigation, the dams have recovered and have plenty of water, although we are still in the early months of the season.
This means there is already some level of certainty about better conditions for the coming months, with frequent rainfall allowing for less added irrigation by some farmers, saving costs as a result. It was also uplifting to see that farmers have successfully planted in several regions across the country, with the maize, sunflower and soya bean fields looking excellent. The various areas of the Free State stood out for me, while in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal there were still early-planted crops.
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The sight presented a picture of a potentially better season ahead. To reiterate, , South African farmers are optimistic the 2025/26 summer season will be better. In the last quarter of 2025, the Agbiz/IDC agribusiness confidence index rose by five points to 67— well above its 50-point neutral mark, which separates optimism and pessimism.
Better agricultural production conditions are expected due to anticipated La Niña rains, and there are hopes that thecattle vaccinationprogramme will help address the foot-and-mouth disease challenge. South Africa will vaccinate the national herd of about 12-million cattle, of which 7.2-million are in commercial production.The logistics of successfullycarrying this out will become clearer in 2026 as the programme gains momentum. Moving along this path after a prolonged period of foot-and-mouth disease is a positive step.
The better grazing veld I witnessed will help support the industry, which is already poised for a recovery. This optimism extends to summer grains and oilseeds. For example, farmers intend to plant 4.5-million hectares this new season, up 1% from 2024/25.
In the areas that have already been planted, the crop looks promising. I could see some overly wet fields, but the warmer weather between these rains has helped. It appears farmers are prepared to plant quickly whenever there is a window of sunshine and the fields are not too muddy.
We typically say the optimal planting window for summer grains and oilseeds in South Africa is between mid-October and mid-November in the eastern regions and mid-November to mid-December in the western areas. The planting windows are a concern due to potential frost damage later in the season. There is always a need for farmers to plant at the right time to avoid the frost and take advantage of the rains earlier in the season.
But over time, we have seen seasons being far later than these windows. In fact, the 2024/25 season in grains and oilseeds, which brought an excellent harvest of 20.08-million tonnes (up 30% year on year), was delayed by roughly a month-and-a-half from the typical schedule. Therefore, even if the prevailing rains delay plantings in some areas, there should be no significant concern. We know from recent history that farmers can still plant quickly and enjoy a better season.
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