Record grain and oilseed harvest for SA this season

The South African summer grains and oilseed harvests are set to be the second largest on record, with the country to remain a net exporter of 2,5 million tons of these commodities.

This was according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, who said data released by the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) showed that South Africa’s 2019/2020 summer grains and oilseed production could increase 32% to 17,5 million tons.

“While this is only the third estimate for this season, with six more to follow, if it materialises, this could be the second-largest harvest on record after the 2016/2017 crop.”

The CEC said the size of the commercial maize crop was expected to be 15,2 million tons, which was a 2,78% increase on the previous forecast.

The area estimate for white maize plantings was

1,61 million hectares and

994 500ha for yellow maize.

The production forecast of white maize was 8,7 million tons, and 6,4 million tons in the case of yellow maize.

Sihlobo added that if the maize harvest reached these volumes, it would enable South Africa to export maize beyond the African continent to other deep-sea markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea, which had not featured prominently in the 2019/2020 marketing season (ended at the end of April).

Paul Makube, senior agricultural economist at FNB

Agri-Business, said the harvest outlook was “impressive” and raised hope for an “agriculture sector rebound”.

Makube added that another positive aspect for the sector was the decline in fuel prices for May.

“This comes at a time when harvesting gets in to full swing for the summer cropping areas, while the winter crop planting season begins.”

He added that the benefits would include reduced costs for farmers in terms of planting, harvesting, and distribution. “Bear in mind that the distribution of agricultural produce is dominated by road transport, with over 80% of grain [being] transported by road.” – Pieter Dempsey