Get ready to sharpen your pencils!

This past year was, once again, a year that felt both familiar and very different.

- TOBIAS DOYER, CEO, GRAIN SA

Conditions in the grain sector have tightened significantly. For wheat farmers this is not new, but after last year’s drought, there was at least some relief in the market for maize and summer grain producers. That window has now closed, and they are back under the pressure of international price cycles.

The winter wheat harvest was simply not enough to cover costs, and other enterprises could not stabilise cash flow.

Summer grain farmers will need above-average yields just to break even. It is clear that global price trends will continue pushing margins downward. This means we must sharpen our pencils, make better decisions, and manage every rand with discipline. Once again, the sector will be called on to show grit, determination and real entrepreneurship if we want to continue feeding South Africa.