Erasmus highlights the February 28 issue with an article on the new draft donations land policy which is the latest piece of legislation tabled by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development for public comment. The draft bill is about creating a formal framework for those farmers who want to voluntarily donate parcels of land that can either be for the benefit of farm workers on that piece of land or to donate it to the department to use for redistribution.  

The policy is getting some negative feedback from the industry, says Erasmus.

She also reports back on the soybean statutory levy which was implemented in June last year to mainly encourage local development of new soybean cultivars. Up to date, 95% of the levy on the previous soybean harvest has been received and the levy still stands at R65 per ton.

In another story, the magazine focuses on job creation by the agricultural sector and concentrates on local job stats that was released by Stats SA recently. Dawie Roodt, chief economist, at the Efficient Group, says he doubts that agriculture can make any significant contribution in solving the unemployment crisis in South Africa.

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That was Denine Erasmus, Editor of Farmer’s Weekly, only on Before Dawn.

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