Farmer’s Weekly – 23 August 2019

WeeklyneWsWrap

“TheOverberghasnotyet
experiencedwinter,butweare
stillinthegame;thepotential
is there.”Thiswasaccording
toRichardKrige,a grain
producernearCaledonand
anexecutiveofGrainSA.
Krigesaidsofarthisyear
only104mmofrainfallhad
beenrecorded,comparedwith
a long-termaverageforthe
periodofabout160mm.Hewas
veryconcernedaboutthelack
ofsoilmoistureinthewheat
fields.AccordingtoKrige,it was
thelowestrainfallinyears.
“Ifwedoreceivethenecessary
averagerainfallinAugustand
September,weshouldharvest
a cropof2,5t/ha.However,
thisfiguremaychangeif we
receiveabove-averagerainfall.”
Inadditiontotheunfavourable
weatherconditions,manyfarmers
alsocomplainedaboutcrops
beinginfestedwithpowdery

mildew.Krigesaidhealso

receivedreportsaboutsightings

offalsearmyworm,andurged

farmerstobeonthelookout.

Theoutlookforwheatinsome

areasintheSwartlandwas

positivesofar,thankstoadequate

rain,accordingtoAndréKirsten,

a grainproducernearDarling,

andGrainSA’srepresentativefor

theSwartlandregion.Hesaid

thatthewheatemergencelooked

Globalagricultureproductscompany

CortevaAgrisciencedidnothavea

particularlygoodstartafterbecoming

a standaloneandpublicallytraded

company.Theagriculturedivision

ofDowDuPont,Cortevaformally

achieveditsindependenceon

1 June,butduringitsfirsthalf-year

tradingperiod,thecompanysaw

itsmajorNorthAmericanmarket

experiencingweather-related

delaysinsummergrainandoilseed

plantings,alongwithsmaller-than-

expectedmaize,soyabeanand

canolaplantingsintheregion.

Basedonproformafinancialdata

insteadofactualhistoricaltransactions,

Corteva’sUS$8,952billion(about

R135,26billion)netsalesforthe

firstsixmonthsof 2019 (H12019)

weredown6%comparedwiththe

US$9,525billion(R143,91billion)

innetsalesforthecorresponding

periodlastyear(H12018).

“[Sales]volumesweredown3%,

withgainsinLatinAmerica,Europe,

MiddleEast,Africa(EMEA)and

AsiaPacificmorethanoffsetbythe

declinesinNorthAmerica,”stated

Corteva’slatestfinancialreport.

ThereportaddedthatCorteva’spro

formanetincomefromcontinuing

operationstotalledUS$595million

(R8,989billion)forH12019,down

48%fromtheUS$1,145billion

(R17,3billion)figureofH12018.

Corteva’sproformaoperating

earningsbeforeinterest,tax,

depreciationandamortisationof

US$1,97billion(R29,76billion)forH

2019 were13%downonH12018’s

US$2,273billion(R34,34billion)figure.

Commentingonthecompany’s

H1 2019 activitiesandresults,

Corteva’sCEO,JimCollins,said:

“Inourinitialquarterasa standalone

companywedeliveredtechnology-

driven,organicgrowthinnearlyall

regions,despitecontinuedpressure

fromtheunprecedentedweather

eventsthatchallengednear-term

marketconditionsinNorthAmerica.

“Wearedeliveringonourcost

synergytargets,withanadditional

US$200million[R3,021billion]realised

inthefirsthalf,andwecontinue

todemonstrateourcommitment

tocustomer-centredinnovation

throughtheaccelerationofnew

productlaunchesthatarehelping

toaddressreal-timechallenges

facinggrowersaroundtheworld.”

Corteva’slatestfinancialstatement

saidthatinthecompany’sbriefhistory,

it hadalreadyexperiencedstrong

demandfromLatinAmericaforits

existingcropprotectionproducts,

whiletheEMEAandAsiaPacific

regionshadshownsimilardemandfor

newproducts,suchasCorteva’sIsoclast

insecticide,itsZorvecfungicide,and

itsArylexherbicide.–Staffreporter

Grain

‘September willbea criticalmonthfor grain’

Business

Corteva hasrockystartas‘newkidon theblock’

ABOVE:

Falsearmyworm

hasbeensighted

onfarmsin the

Overbergdistrict.

Carelleroux

18 farmer’sweekly 23 August 2019

favourable, but added that the

potential for the crop varied.

“If we get good rain in August

and September, the wheat in the

southern parts of the Swartland

will produce good harvest

potential. However, the wheat

in the northern region of the

Swartland is not doing so well.”

He stressed that the season

would need “to last longer” since

rainfall started late. “We had

almost no rain during April and

May, and therefore all the crops

in the Swartland are at least

three weeks late,” he explained.

Kirsten also expressed

concern about soil moisture,

saying that recent rainfall kept

the wheat going, but it did not

result in improved soil moisture

conditions. Another concern was

that the recent downpours did not

significantly replenish irrigation

dams, as there was no run-off into

the dams. – Jeandré van der Walt