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Concerns rise over quality and quantity of maize as South Africa’s harvest lags behind

The Star

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June 26, 2025

THE Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) has issued a stern warning regarding the early maize harvest, noting a significant decline compared to last season's yield.

- YOGASHEN PILLAY

With the agricultural landscape shaped by unpredictable weather patterns, both farmers and agricultural associations are echoing concerns about the implications of the current harvesting conditions.

Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said that South African farmers and farmworkers were hard at work across the country.

“The maize farmers are busy harvesting the 2024-25 crop. In the week of June 13, South African farmers delivered 851 814 tons of the new season maize to commercial silos. This was the seventh delivery for the new season, bringing the overall maize deliveries so far to 3.3 million tons,” he said.

Sihlobo said compared with the overall volume delivered during the same period in the last season, the current volumes were down 46% due to the season's slow start.

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