Farmers still face headwinds despite return to growth

Despite the recent positive news from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) indicating that the agriculture sector had increased 22.2% in the first quarter of 2017 and that a record maize harvest is on the horizon for this year, the recent sovereign downgrades by credit agencies and news that the economy is now in recession do not bode well for the consumer and business sectors. This is according to Absa senior agricultural economist Wessel Lemmer, who spoke during the financial institution’s Agribusiness Industry Update media roundtable, which took place last month in Centurion, Gauteng.