‘This VAT exemption
... means that the
importation of feed
would have less of
an impact on the
producers’ already
compromised
cash flow’- Ryno van der Merwe, president of
Namibia Agricultural Union, responding
to a decision that imported animal feed be
exempted from value-added tax in an effort
to mitigate the effect of the drought (pg 16).
‘It’s not good for meat
prices; it’s not good for
the price of milk. The fact
that the economy is under
pressure is also not good
for the agriculture sector’- Agricultural economist Prof Johan
Willemse commenting on a recent decision
by the International Monetary Fund to adjust
its projected outlook for South Africa’s
economic growth downward (pg 18).
ABOVE
The heavy snow and rain that fell
in parts of the Karoo will aid the
recovery of grazing destroyed by
the devastating drought, according
to Johan van den Berg, specialised
crop insurance manager at Santam
Agriculture – see story on page 23.
Weekly quotes
‘The outlook for the
industry is positive, as long
as we gain access to export
markets other than the EU’- Derek Donkin, CEO of Subtrop, says that to
sustain industry growth, South Africa has to diversify
and grow its export markets for avocados (pg 20).
‘If we don’t develop an
appropriate response
strategy, it will lead
to job losses’- Dr Dirk Troskie, of the Western Cape
Department of Agriculture, on how the
Fourth Industrial Revolution could lead to
wide scale job losses in farming (pg 21).
‘The solution is to
adopt a free market
approach that allows
imports to supplement
supply where domestic
production falls short’- Paul Matthew, CEO of the Association of Meat
Importers and Exporters, warning against the
possible negative impact that high import tariffs on
poultry productsmayholdforSouthAfrica(pg22).
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9 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 15