The farming sector is in a good space despite the challenges of a looming El Niño drought and the continuing foot-and-mouth epidemic.

We continue to see encouraging data on the state of the South African farming sector, particularly at the start of 2026. For example, the figures released on 9 June 2026 by Statistics South Africa show that the country's agricultural gross value added expanded by 3.9% quarter-on-quarter (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2026, from 0.4% in the last quarter of 2025.

These robust growth figures also align with the strong trade figures for the first quarter. For example, in the first quarter of 2026, South Africa's agricultural exports totalled $3.7-billion, up 11% from the same period a year ago, according to data from Trade Map. Better exports were a function of both higher export volumes across various products and higher commodity prices.

These encouraging data are notwithstanding the challenges posed by foot-and-mouth disease in cattle, African swine fever in the pig industry and floods in the northeastern regions of South Africa at the start of the year. Still, higher economic activity across field crops and horticulture sufficiently supported growth in the sector, overshadowing challenges in other agricultural subsectors.

Looking at the positives, if we zoom in on field crops, we are likely to continue seeing encouraging figures in agriculture...