The veld and livestock are in reasonable to poor condition in most areas. Land preparations are underway for summer crops. Above normal rainfall is anticipated during early summer in most summer rainfall areas. However, towards mid-summer rainfall is expected to be below normal in the central and western parts of the country. Above normal rainfall is anticipated for the north eastern parts of the country during mid-summer. Temperatures are expected to be above normal countrywide. However, the seasonal forecast emphasizes caution as the El Niño effect might still influence the weather patterns thereby change the seasonal outlook for the mid and late summer. Farmers are encouraged to continually monitor these conditions through the extended weather forecast for short-term to medium-term planning.

As Agri SA prepares for the retirement of chief executive officer, Christo van der Rheede, incoming chief executive officer Johann Kotze has come on board full-time to continue to ensure a smooth leadership transition. Christo will remain at the helm of affairs until Agri SA’s upcoming congress on 12 and 13 October 2023, whereafter he will officially hand over to the new chief executive officer.

In June, the south and south-western areas of the country received above-normal rainfall while most of the central and northern regions received below-normal rainfall (Figure 1). July received a mixture of normal to below-normal rainfall in most parts of the country (Figure 2). However, some eastern parts of the country as well as southern Free State and parts of the Eastern Cape received above normal rainfall. Mid-August was dry as below-normal rainfall was recorded countrywide (Figure 3). For the season July 2022 – June 2023, near normal rainfall was received over much of the country with above normal rainfall only over the southern parts of Free State, eastern parts of Eastern Cape as well as parts of Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces (Figure 4). ZF Mgcawu District Municipality of the Northern Cape received below-normal rainfall.