Top five trends in SA farming in 2021
Sustainability has emerged as a major theme in farming, and over the past year the concept has found expression in even more aspects of agriculture. Not only are farmers adapting the way they farm in order to make production more sustainable and resilient in a changing climate, but the economic sustainability of farming has become crucially important. Farmers in South Africa are starting to realise that a sustainable approach to farming can earn them added value via the carbon economy.
Along with farmers’ search for high-value niche crops that offer lucrative diversification potential, and growing investment in labour-saving mechanisation, here are some of the major trends in South African farming this year.
Trend 1: Sustainable farming
What was a new and unconventional approach to farming a few years ago has become increasingly mainstream as more farmers adopt sustainable farming practices such as no-till and regenerative farming with the focus, predominantly, on improving soil health. According to independent agricultural consultant Dr Louis du Pisani (, 19 March), climate change and global warming are having a profound and permanent effect on livestock farming globally. Extreme weather events, failure to respond to climate change, and biodiversity loss are now rated among the greatest dangers to humanity on the planet. To
