Another sign pointing up for South Africa
Sentiment among South Africa’s agricultural businesses rose for the first time in three quarters as favourable weather conditions and strong exports supported a more positive outlook.
A quarterly confidence index compiled by the Agricultural Business Chamber, known as Agbiz, and the Industrial Development Corp. climbed by 5 points to 67 for the three months that end 31 December, according to a report published on Friday.
The increase in the gauge, measured in a survey that took place last month, followed two consecutive quarters of decline.
“South African agribusinesses are generally optimistic about business conditions in the country,” the chamber said in a statement.
“We suspect that the announcement of nationwide vaccination of cattle against foot-and-mouth disease also contributed to the upbeat mood.”
The government last month announced plans to vaccinate the country’s entire herd of more than 7 million cattle in an effort to contain the disease in the continent’s biggest beef producer.
Export volumes and market share surged the most, while subindices measuring net operating income and turnover fell, reflecting that while the harvest of winter crops, such as wheat, is relatively large, prices are lower.
Going forward, the chamber sees better production conditions in horticultural and field crops, while the livestock industry will remain under pressure, said Wandile Sihlobo, Agbiz’s chief economist.
A “speedy vaccination process against foot-and-mouth disease” next year will aid a recovery, he said.
South African grain farmers probably produced the second-biggest corn crop on record in 2025 thanks to good rains earlier in the year.
For the first eleven months of the year, tractor sales were up 19% from 2024 while 3% more combined harvesters were sold, Agbiz said in a separate note.
The strong machinery sales signal farmers’ optimism about the 2025-26 season, Sihlobo said.
Farmers intend to plant corn on 2.67 million hectares next year, almost 3% more than 2024-25, as the expected La Niña weather phenomenon usually causes above-normal rainfall in the country and its neighbours.
Friday’s releases add to other positive data suggesting a turnaround in South Africa.
On Tuesday, data from the statistics agency showed the economy expanded 2.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, beating the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
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