24 Grain SA member services The 2024/2025 production season was characterised by contrasting outcomes across South Africa’s major summer and winter grain crops. While some crops have experienced great performance, others were adversely affected by the mid-summer drought. Among the summer grains, maize and soybeans showed reductions in yields and production volumes due to the adverse effects of the mid-summer drought during critical growing stages. Similarly, sunflower seed continued its year-on-year decline, showing both lower yields and a smaller area planted. Sorghum production also remained below the five- and ten-year averages, despite a slight increase in the area. In contrast, groundnuts saw a slight recovery in the area planted, even though production remained relatively stable as yields declined slightly from historical averages. Winter grains performed considerably better. Wheat achieved above-average yields and stable production levels, due to favourable weather conditions in the Western Cape. Barley maintained consistent yields and showed a slight increase in production, supported by increased area planted. The canola industry was the best-performing winter crop, achieving record-high yields and production volumes, driven by expanded area planted, favourable weather conditions and improved rotational crop systems. Sections 1 to 8 below provide an overview of the long-term production conditions and growth trends of South Africa’s summer and winter grain crops, focusing on the area planted, total production, and overall yield performance. 1. Maize Graph 1 illustrates the long-term trends in maize area planted, production, and yield in South Africa from the 1990/1991 to 2024/2025 production seasons. Over the 34-year period, the maize industry has remained the country’s most important grain crop, solidifying its important role as the backbone of both the human consumption and animal feed markets. The total area planted of maize (gold bar) has decreased slightly since the mid-1990s, from almost 4 million hectares to fluctuate between 2,5 and 3 million hectares in the early 2000s, reflecting changes in price competitiveness, weather variability, and crop rotation practices. From 2010 onwards, the area planted stabilised at around 2,6 million hectares. Production represented by the dark-grey bar has followed a broadly upward trend, with notable peaks during seasons of favourable rainfall and higher yields. The most significant increases were observed from 2016/2017 onwards. Despite a decrease in production during the 2018/2019 and the 2023/2024 production seasons caused by dry weather conditions, production is projected to recover greatly in 2024/2025 to over 16,3 million tons, exceeding both the five-and ten-year averages of 10,57 million and 11,41 million tons, respectively. The red line graph represents yields over time. On average, yields have increased substantially, reaching 4,87 t/ha in 2023/2024 and projected to increase to 6,29 t/ha in 2024/2025. These figures outperform the five- year average of 4,2 t/ha and the ten-year average of 4,7 t/ha. Table 1 provides a summary of the production overview of total maize in the 2024/2025 season. PRODUCTION CONDITIONS IN THE 2024/2025 PRODUCTION SEASON FOR SUMMER AND WINTER GRAINS Production overview
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTI0MzQ=