Maize looking forward to another promising season

Magda du Toit spoke to industry experts about what 2026 has in store for maize production.

- Magda du Toit

South African maize farmers show cautious optimism for the coming season. With the 2025/26 maize production season just starting, farmers intend to plant 2,665 million hectares to the crop, according to the Crop Estimates Committee's (CEC) 9th production estimate that was released at the end of October 2025. This was a slight increase on the 2,636 million hectares planted in the previous season.

According to the CEC, prospects of La Niña rains during the 2025/26 season promised to be favourable, enticing farmers to increase plantings by 1% from the 2024/25 season.

According to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, it is likely that the mixed performance of South Africa's farming sector in 2025 will continue into 2026.

“The encouraging factors going into 2026 include a favourable weather outlook and farmers' intentions to increase the summer crop planting area. The field crop subsectors are expected to benefit from favourable weather conditions and a vibrant export market that remains resilient despite US tariffs,” he said.