Agri SA president Willem de Chavonnes Vrugt and Agriculture Gauteng president Konrad Burger have called for greater unity in organised agriculture, arguing that farmers need collective strength and credible data to influence decisions as the sector grapples with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), rising input costs and labour pressures.
By Maile Matsimela, digital editor at African Farming
Speaking at Agriculture Gauteng’s annual congress and AGM at Obaro Silverlakes in Pretoria on Wednesday, the two leaders approached the challenges facing agriculture from different perspectives but arrived at the same conclusion: individual farmers cannot tackle the sector’s biggest challenges alone.
De Chavonnes Vrugt used the image of a rope made up of thousands of fibres to illustrate the importance of farmers, commodity organisations and provincial structures working together.
A rope, he explained, gains its strength not from a central core but from the interaction and friction between its individual fibres.
“The interesting thing about that rope – it’s made up of more than 50 000 fibres. There’s no central core,” he said.
For organised agriculture, the individual farmer represents one of those fibres, with provincial unions and commodity organisations adding further strands to create a stronger collective voice.
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Agriculture’s economic contribution
De Chavonnes Vrugt said the importance of that collective voice was evident from agriculture’s contribution to the South African economy.
The sector generated R266 billion in exports in 2025 and recorded a trade surplus of R124 billion, while employing about 950 000 people. When the broader agricultural value chain is included, it contributes about 15.4% to GDP.
He said farmers and agricultural organisations need to understand the different levels at which decisions affecting the sector are made – from the farm gate to industry organisations and national government – and co-ordinate their efforts accordingly.
“This is the environment in which we now need to get unity and co-ordinate to make that great and broad-based impact,” he said.
Data gives farmers a stronger voice
But unity alone is not enough, according to De Chavonnes Vrugt. Organised agriculture also needs credible data to support its arguments.
He pointed to electricity tariffs as an example.
NERSA approved an Eskom tariff increase of 12.74% for 2024, but Agri SA found the actual effect on some farmers, particularly irrigation farmers, was closer to 30% because agricultural electricity consumption patterns had not been adequately considered.
Agri SA collected information from farmers across commodities and provinces and used it to demonstrate the actual farm-level impact to the regulator.
Although the approved increase could not be reversed, De Chavonnes Vrugt said the engagement changed how NERSA and Eskom would consider agricultural electricity use in future tariff discussions.
The lesson, he said, was that a loud voice may initially attract attention, but influence built on facts and credible information has a greater chance of changing decisions over time.
This is also why Agri SA is working to strengthen its agricultural database, including through its AgriSpoor application.
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Farmers face several pressures at once
Burger brought the discussion closer to conditions on farms, pointing to FMD, labour and escalating input costs as some of the major pressures confronting producers.
On FMD, he argued that individual farmers have limited ability to influence issues such as vaccine access, livestock movement controls and government interventions.
“One farmer cannot negotiate access to vaccines on a global basis. One farmer cannot engage government services to assist with movement control,” Burger said.
A farmers’ organisation representing many producers, however, has a greater chance of securing a seat at the decision-making table.
Movement controls are particularly important because they form part of efforts to contain FMD and restore access to export markets affected by the disease.
Burger also addressed the pressure of rising labour costs, while stressing that farmworkers deserve dignified remuneration.
The challenge for agriculture, he said, is finding ways to remain productive and financially sustainable as wage costs increase. This includes discussions around mechanisation, productivity and ensuring policymakers understand how labour decisions affect different farming operations.
At the same time, farmers are facing what Burger described as a quieter crisis: rising production costs. Fertiliser, fuel and equipment costs continue to put pressure on farm budgets, while the prices farmers receive for their products do not necessarily rise at the same pace.
Again, he said, collective structures give farmers greater negotiating and lobbying power than they have individually.
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‘An investment’ in collective strength
Burger said farmers should therefore not view membership of organised agriculture simply as paying a subscription.
Instead, he described it as an investment in the structures that represent farmers in discussions affecting their businesses.
“I’m not asking you to stop being an individual farmer,” he said. “I’m asking you to be a farmer who also stands inside something bigger.”
For De Chavonnes Vrugt, that collective structure must increasingly be supported by evidence. Farmers who provide organisations with accurate information about their businesses and production costs help build the data needed when agricultural representatives engage government, regulators and other decision-makers.
The two presidents ultimately returned to the same message: South African farmers may operate independently at farm level, but many of the biggest challenges confronting agriculture require a collective response. “We are connected to our roots, to the land,” De Chavonnes Vrugt said. “Standing shoulder to shoulder, looking at this really bright future – if we grow agriculture together.”
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