The good news keeps pouring in for SA’s agricultural sector, at least from a production perspective.

While Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered the Mid-Term Budget Speech on Wednesday 28 October 2020, all eyes were on him to decipher a way forward for South Africa in terms of economic recovery.

It is not my usual practice to revisit the subject of a previous column. But in this instance I am compelled to do so because of the fast-changing global agricultural outlook and its implications for prices.

The Land Bank, which is in the throes of a liquidity crisis, slashed lending by about two-thirds in the five months to the end of September, starving farmers of capital ahead of the production season for the food staple maize.

Agriculture, land reform & rural development minister Thoko Didiza’s announcement that 700,000ha of agricultural land will be released for distribution is a positive step for agricultural expansion and inclusive growth.

 The sentiment about the 2020/21 global grains and oilseeds production prospects is changing from a once optimistic one to potential downward revisions of the harvest.