22 January 2010  

 

EXECUTIVE NEWS

 

Last evening we were grateful and most relieved to receive the news that Koosie Smit and his sons were finally freed from their home on their farm in Nyazura in which they had been barricaded by a hired gang since last Tuesday. Despite their power, water and communications being vandalised by the group who intimidated and harassed them constantly they bravely resisted making any deals with them. The group just packed up and left quietly so we are not sure exactly what led up to this.

 

Hopefully the family may now pick up the pieces and carry on without any further interference.

 

In other cases in the province where farmers were evicted over the Christmas period the farmers have still been unable to return to their properties, which is in contempt of the High Court orders which some have been granted. Attempts to address this matter are currently ongoing.

 

Late last week some 12 Matabeleland farmers received a simple letter requesting them to make way for new beneficiaries who have been allocated the final portions of their properties. This letter is of absolutely no legal consequence as an eviction order may only be issued by a competent court. The current wave, of new beneficiaries with offer letters, have allegedly been issued to senior police officers. Lands officials have also reportedly left a person behind on each property to ensure that the owner does not remove any of his equipment as they are saying that Government will compensate for this.

 

For a number of years now we have been literally ‘fire fighting’, attempting to resolve each individual situation as it occurs on which we have achieved varying success. However, this is unacceptable and we now need to aim at resolving the situation nationally. Should this be achieved we would no longer be distracted by time consuming efforts to resolve individual problems. To this end we have been spending a huge amount of our time in seeking a national resolution, which would allow for the return of law and order throughout Zimbabwe which is not used selectively.

 

We once again hammer home the necessity of a constant flow of information coming into the building about what is happening on the farms out there. It is absolutely essential that we receive constant and accurate reports, which should also be regularly updated. What we have found is that when there is a problem developing we may be contacted to assist but as the incident progresses, or ceases, follow up information is often lacking.

 

All the information should be channelled through Mike Clark at [email protected] or 04-309841 or 011-603427. Where South African citizens have been requested to channel information through [email protected] they are requested to still copy to the former.

 

We have also received urgent requests for photographs, video and sound recordings of the current incidents. The world needs to see what is actually happening rather than just hearing the story from the news reader or reading it in a newspaper. Should those people request anonymity their requests will be respected.

 

Of course we fully understand that communication of information needs to travel both ways. We have therefore changed our website design to allow full access to most of the information contained in it to the general public without the necessity of submitting a password. The password was initially put in to give benefit to CFU paid up members to allow them exclusive access to everything on the website and to restrict access by non-members to only a small portion of the information contained therein.

 

Looking at the low number of hits to our website www.cfuzim.org we decided to open it up to everyone, which would be beneficial to particularly researchers in the media. We would value your opinions on what you see and would appreciate any suggestions you have on how to either improve the site or else what particular content would be required by you.

 

CFU now has its own Facebook page to better stay in touch with all the farmers and ex-farmers and to make it easier for you all to stay in touch with us.

 

Our page will be updated with all the latest reports and you will be notified of upcoming meetings, events etc. and if there is anything you would like us to post you can simply email or send us a message and we can post that.

 

If you would like to find our page simply log into your Facebook account and type ‘The Commercial Farmers’ Union of Zimbabwe’ into the search box on the top right hand corner of your screen and when it comes up with the page click on it and when it opens the page somewhere near the top there is a join button, click on that and you will receive all our latest news directly to your home page.

 

If you would like more info etc please do not hesitate to contact Natanya Scott on [email protected].

 

The Chairman of Farmers in Touch (FIT) has said that the association is also undergoing a complete facelift to accommodate proposed new changes in the association, as well as a change in name. The AGM is set to take place on 11 February and all are welcome to attend.

 

Today we had our first meeting as committee representing the S.A. Nationals farming in Zimbabwe, the following people attended and I would like to encourage you to meet with them as I have tried to invite members that could represent different regions, farmers, non farmers and a bit of age.

 

The following people attended the meeting:

 

Renier van Rensburg – Banket, Chinhoyi,  Karoi     Cell no 0912 609 841

 

Dirk Visagie – Chegutu, Gwelo, Kadoma, Kwekwe   Cell no 0912 568 994

 

Mike Freeland – Harare, FIT members Cell no 011 231 642

 

Louis Uys – Harare, Fit Members 011 204 100

 

Rod Swales- Darwendale, Trelawney, Harare, Fit Members  Cell no 0912 266 516

 

Mike Clark- Masvingo, Beit Bridge, Chiredzi  etc,.     Tel no CFU 04 -309 800

 

Dolf du Toit – Nyazura, Rusape, Marondera, Mutare, Chipinge, Nyanga    Cell no 0912 384 486

 

Paul Grobler- Nyazura, Rusape, Marondera, Mutare, Chipinge, Nyanga    Cell no 0912 246 347

 

 

I would like to encourage you to meet or phone them to share your ideas with them before our next meeting that will be early Feb 2010.

 

We would also like to get someone to represent Bulawayo region, it would be easier to have an ex Bulawayo farmer in Harare, but the Union is open for suggestions.

 

We would like to encourage farmers who have lost their farms to start engaging with the SA Embassy about assistance in terms of compensation for their lost properties.  Every farmer on our list have to engage as an individual with the SA Embassy giving them your details, Names, SA Id no, farms names, district. A short history on when your farm was lost and ask for assistance in terms of compensation. You might not get the reply you want, but a reply is a confirmation of your letter / email sent. If you do not get a reply in 7 days send another email and ask for confirmation.

 

If you need assistance on this please speak to the above people or myself, but it is very important to get the above done. At this stage a lot has been done about farmers on the land facing problems and we are getting a reaction from the Embassy. The only way we can get the compensation issue driven, is for you the farmer to create the pressure by approaching the SA Embassy, once enough farmers have engaged the embassy we can officially  start applying the pressure.

 

Please copy your emails to Louis Fick and Mike Clark for our record keeping.

 

The above request is vital for us to move forward with the most important issue – compensation. Need your support here!

 

Please also register with Valcon for your farm valuations or contact Charlie Taffs or Mike Clark for help [email protected]. This will help us in the future to compile a list with values for SA Nationals as part of our future strategy.

 

Address your mails to Prof M. Makalima [email protected] and copy to Mr. I. Simmins [email protected]

 

Last week Marc Carrie-Wilson covered what was happening at the Constitution making process. From what we understand the process has been temporarily suspended pending an audit of the team which had been elected to be involved in the information gathering process. This followed allegations that the team had been infiltrated by an extra 500 or so unauthorised participants.

 

Marc has been working on a position paper for the Union and has come up with the following, which includes our proposed answers to the questionnaire which is intended to be circulated by his particular thematic group. The below is merely a draft paper and we would be extremely interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

 

We urge everyone to become personally involved in this extremely important Constitution making process.

 

The Farmers of Zimbabwe have been following the making of the new Constitution with great interest. We have chosen to participate in the process and we have the following statement:

A.   General Constitutional Issues

The new Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe should guarantee all citizens absolute respect for their fundamental universal human rights and provide for the active fostering of a culture of mutual respect and brotherhood whilst embracing and celebrating the diversity within Zimbabwean society. The Constitution must provide a platform for the social and economic prosperity of all Zimbabwean people and their future generations. The shortcomings and atrocities of the colonial and post independence past should be acknowledge and steps taken towards a healed country where the inherent dignity of all citizens is recognized regardless of race, ethnicity, and gender, religious or political opinion.

The Constitution must ensure a clear separation of powers between the executive and the legislature and entrench the total independence of the judiciary, which must never again be subverted to serve the interests of party politics.

It must guarantee that Government is held absolutely accountable to the people through regular free and fair elections in a system of multi-party democracy. To this end, there must also be a guarantee of transparency in the processes of Government, devolution of powers to provincial and local authorities and limitation on the terms of office of Executive heads, including The Head of the National Executive and the Provincial Executives.

It should ensure that the civil service and the executive organs of the state (Zimbabwe Republic Police, The Defence Forces, The Prison Services and the Intelligence Services) are totally professional, impartial and apolitical  guided primarily by the rule of law and respect for human rights.

We the people of Zimbabwe must realize that our Constitution is for us all. It is bigger than any one individual, any one organization, any one political party or any one Government. It is the bedrock of our values and should safeguard the rights and dignity of all our children and their children forever. Let us move forward in unity and enjoy peace, harmony and prosperity in our beautiful country.

May God bless Zimbabwe.

B.    Constitutional Issues Relating to Land Natural Resources and Empowerment

At the recent workshop for the thematic subcommittee delegates involved in the Constitution making process, the Constitutional thematic subcommittee on Land, Natural Resources and Empowerment crafted the following questionnaire (discussion points) to which the most desirable position is stated (answers beneath each question) as follows:

 

 

KEY ISSUES

 

LAND

1.     Should the preamble to the Constitution include some issues to the land question? If yes, which sub-issues should be included on land?

Land should be identified as a cherished national resource which should be used for the benefit and economic prosperity of all the Zimbabwean people.

2.     Should the land question be clearly defined in the founding principles of the Constitution? If yes, what principles on land reform would you specify?

The need to use land for the common good should be recognized. The rights of all Zimbabweans to access land on an equitable basis irrespective of their race, gender, religious or political opinion should be a foundational principle.

3.     Should the Constitution highlight that the land reform process is irreversible, based on the vision of the liberation struggle and the GPA? If yes, how should that be entrenched in the Constitution?

It is impossible to totally reverse land reform and therefore it is not necessary to entrench this. However, if this is to be entrenched in the constitution it is also necessary to highlight the fact that the land question is not yet resolved. The GPA envisages a process of reviews, audits, extension of security of tenure to all land holders, and equitable access to land irrespective of gender, race or political affiliation. It is thus necessary to audit and review the process of Land Reform in order to identify the anomalies and effect the necessary corrections. The vision of the Heroes of the Liberation Struggle was to ensure that all Zimbabwean people enjoyed freedom, democracy, equality before the law, the equal enjoyment of fundamental human rights and access to land on an equitable basis regardless of their race, gender or political affiliation. This should remain the vision.

4.     On property rights, is there need to make a special provision on land and natural resources in the Constitution?

Property Rights are the foundations of individual freedom, autonomy, innovation and economic prosperity. The right to property is a universal human right and should be entrenched in the Constitution. There is need to include special provisions in the constitution relating to Land and Natural Resources to ensure that:

a.     Arbitrary manipulation of these rights on a political basis should never fall outside the jurisdiction of an independent judiciary;

b.     A balance is drawn on a non partisan and fair basis between the social function of land and national resources, which should empower poor, disadvantaged and local communities, and the need to efficiently and effectively use these resources to ensure economic prosperity for the common good and the development of the nation; and

c.     Any limitation of the right to property in this regard is only done in terms of a law of general application in the broader public interest and subject to the payment of timeous, adequate and fair compensation.

5.     Who should own the land? (a) Are foreigners allowed to own land and under what circumstances? (b) What should be the redress as regards to multiple farm ownership? (c) What can be done to ensure that with regards to redistribution, there is inclusivity of all Zimbabweans? (d) How should the marginalized groups such as women and former farm workers be accommodated in the land redistribution exercise?

It is appropriate in the present Zimbabwean context to have a menu of Land Tenure options ranging from a situation where, for example, the land is owned by the state and leased out, or where it is owned by private individuals; or even where it is owned by a community in a customary tenure system.  Recognition of a diverse range of tenure options will allow flexibility and growth in the future development of the Nation. However, the common denominator should always be that land can be accessed by all Zimbabweans on an equitable basis, and that land holders are empowered with sufficient security of tenure and access to the land’s collateral value. This will mean that all land tenure must be legally transferable.

a)    Regarding foreigners owning land it is imperative that all Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) be honoured. There must be an environment conducive to foreign investment in all sectors including the Agricultural Sector.

b)    Regarding Multiple Farm ownerships it is improper for senior members of Government and others to have benefitted from multiple allocations of land, even if indirectly through allocations to various relatives. These allocations should be reviewed and the multiple allocations withdrawn. If corruption and abuse of power is exposed in the review then appropriate prosecutions should take place. However, it should be born in mind that depending on the type of land tenure system in question, allowing multiple ownership may strengthen the vibrancy of the land market and increase the economic value and efficient use of land.

c)     Constitutional guarantees of equality before the law and certain tenure systems where secure transferable land tenure can be accessed through land markets will assist in this regard.

d)    See answer to question 8 in this regard.

6.     If the State acquires/expropriates land, should compensation be paid for? (a) If, yes who should pay compensation? (b) If yes, what should the compensation be for?

If the State expropriates Property from its subjects it should compensate them. To not compensate renders the rights to property useless and provides no incentive for land holders to invest in capital improvements on the land. (a) If the state expropriates the land it must be the state that pays compensation. How can a Zimbabwean citizen be compensated by some other party for property which his Government expropriated from him? (b) In order to ensure the full benefit of property rights the full value of the property that has been expropriated should be the value of compensation.

7.     What type of land tenure systems do the people want?

See the answer to question 5 in this regard. It should be stressed that the economic value of land can only be harnessed through secure tenure systems which are bankable and transferable. This will enable an environment conducive, for holders of land, to invest in the capital development of the land and ensure it is used in a sustainable way.

8.     Should there be land set aside for housing development for the benefit of disadvantaged groups such as workers? (b) Should there be land set aside for housing for groups such as workers and urban dwellers?

There should be land set aside specifically for poor and disadvantaged communities like the farm workers and other poor landless and marginalized groups. Again, these communities should be given secure property rights in respect of this land.

9.     Who should fund the Land Reform and farming activities of resettled farmers? (b) What responsibility should farmers have towards the financiers?

The Beneficiaries of Land Reform should fund their own farming activities on an autonomous basis. To this end they must be empowered with secure tenure systems which enable them to harness the collateral value of the land. Financial institutions which loan money can ensure success by requiring farmer participation in mentoring schemes, research and extension and agricultural training programmes.

10.  How should be the question of inheritance or land rights of marginalized groups such as women, orphans, widows etc be addressed?

Civil and Customary law should not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, political affiliation or age when inheritance or customary rights to land are in question.

11.  What would be the role of Mambos in administration of land?

The role of Mambos should be to ensure the best for their community in an unbiased and non politically partisan way. They should lead the way in balancing community values and traditions with the requirements of rural development, community empowerment and the realization of the economic value of communal areas; possibly through a review of customary tenure systems and a fresh approach to the recommendations of the Rekuni Commission.

12.  Should there be a Land Commission or Land Court or Traditional Chiefs to deal with disputes pertaining to land matters?

There should be an independent Land Commission established by the Constitution or an Act of Parliament whose function is to carry out Land Audits, review inappropriate allocations and correct any anomalies in the acquisition or redistribution of Land. Its role may also extend to the assessment of compensation owed to all those who have been disadvantaged by land reform. There should also be a Land Court whose function should be to Act as a court of appeal against decisions of the Land Commission and to otherwise preside over disputes with regard to issues involving ownership or entitlement to land. Traditional Chiefs will play a useful role in presiding over proceedings where customary law is applicable.

13.  What is the current position on land for future generations, because land is a finite resource?

It is important that policies and laws relating to land in Zimbabwe allow for land to be used in the national interest in ways that are sustainable and efficient. This can be guaranteed through empowering tenure systems and property rights, access to which should be guaranteed to all Zimbabweans on an equitable basis, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religious belief, gender or political affiliation.

14.  Do you have any other issues to raise on the land question?

 

NATURAL RESOURCES

15.  Who should own natural resources, ie, water, wildlife, forests and minerals?

Beneficiaries of the use of the Natural Resources should own them or lease them from the state subject to investment agreements and protocols which serve the common good of all Zimbabweans and bring specific benefits to local communities. Such Protocols and Agreements should take place with all stakeholder participation and should include input at a technical level taking cognizance of the potential environmental and anthropological impact. In the event that the property rights of individuals or communities are prejudiced by the necessity to exploit mineral resources there must be rights to adequate compensation.

16.  Should communities living adjacent to areas with natural resources such as water, wildlife, minerals be direct beneficiaries of the resources, eg the Tonga in Binga, and the Chiadzwa community? Should there be a constitutional guarantee for the benefit of the marginalized.

See the answer to question 15 in this regard.

17.  Do you have any other issues to raise on issues of natural resources?

 

EMPOWERMENT

18.  How should the marginalized groups, i.e. women, people, living with disability, youth, etc be empowered with regards to land and natural resources?

They should not be disempowered by political control of land and other natural resources. There should be specific provisions for the poor on a differential basis from those citizens with employment and resources.

19.  Do you have any other issues to raise on issues of empowerment?

 

Here is a light hearted report, but the truth of the content cannot be verified. Make up your own mind:

 

ONIONS

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a Doctor who visited many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu.  Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it, and many died.

The doctor came upon one farmer, and to his surprise, everyone in the household was very healthy.  When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home (probably only two rooms back then).  The doctor couldn’t believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope.  She gave him one, and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion.  It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

 Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ.   She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work… (And no, she is not in the onion business.)

The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere.  Try it and see what happens.  We did it last year, and we never got the flu.

If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better.  If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case…Whatever, what have you to lose?  Just a few bucks on onions!

 Now there is a P.S. to this, for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues.  She replied with this most interesting experience about onions: 

Thanks for the reminder. I don’t know about the farmer’s story…but I do know that I contracted pneumonia, and needless to say I was very ill…I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion.  Put one end on a fork, and then place the forked end into an empty jar…placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs.  Sure enough, it happened just like that…the onion was a mess, and I began to feel better. 

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties. 

This is the other note: LEFTOVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS! I have used an onion which has been left in the fridge. Sometimes I don’t use a whole one at one time, so I save the other half for later.  Now with this info, I have changed my mind. I will buy smaller onions in the future. I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers of mayonnaise.  Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters in the Mullins family.  My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.

Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist.

The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed.  He’s one of the brothers.  Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce formula.  He’s even developed sauce formula for McDonald’s.

Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed’s answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe.

“It doesn’t even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it’s not really necessary.” He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the quintessential picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the ‘victim’ last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it’s not the mayonnaise (as long as it’s not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It’s probably the onions, and if not the onions, it’s the POTATOES.

He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion. He says it’s not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.

It’s already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!)

Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you’ll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put it on your sandwich, you’re asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

 

So, how’s that for news? Take it for what you will. I (the author) am going to be very careful about my onions from now on. For some reason, I see a lot of credibility coming from a chemist and a company that produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year. Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

 

Please remember it is dangerous to cut onions and try to use it to cook the next day. It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

 

COMMODITY UPDATE

 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DAIRY FARMERS (from the desk of Rob Van Vuuren)

 

Dr Rachel Stewart had successful visits to Mutare and Rusape last week. This week she has visited farms in Ngezi, Beatrice and Wedza.  A trip to Mozambique is planned for next week to follow up on the Land-O-Lakes Small Scale project next week.

Dr Stewart is looking into the issue of rogue tests.

 

VACCINE PROGRAMME

 

The fourth draw down of vaccines has arrived from OBP and is in storage at Fivet.

A  reminder to our members whose order has been approved – In 2010 any Vaccine Drawdown Authorization not collected within 10 days of issue will be cancelled and vaccines will immediately be reallocated.   Please can members bear in mind that from time to time there will be stock-out of various vaccines.

 The Livestock Liaison Committee will meet this Friday 20th January to approve a number of issues, these being, briefly:

•  
  • Contract with NFB for the hire of their 3 tonne refrigerated truck which will assist greatly with the distribution of Vaccines into the Provinces.
  • Contract with Frontline Farming as a distributing agent in Bulawayo.
  • Cost structure for Vaccines for the 2010 season.

We are currently working on a schedule of training seminars for vaccination and livestock producers; these are being planned for Chinhoyi, Bindura, Masvingo and Mutare during this quarter.  This will be finalized by the end of January.

 

 MARKETING PROGRAMME

 

 Sue Bell, Linda Nielsen and Farai Tinarwo undertook a 3 day visit to Sangano, Tsonzo and Rusitu this week.

 

Sangano – this was an “unannounced” evaluation of the Centre following their inspection by Dairy Services on 19^th November 2009.  Recommendations were being followed and we were pleased to note the overall improvements made and tidy up of the Centre.  In December the Centre received 18 722 litres a significant rise due to increased membership and increased cow production per day!

 

The NADF staff were on sight for the arrival of 7 heifers and 1 calf purchased from Bob Knott for the Programme.  This went very smoothly and the recipients were very pleased with the livestock.  Drugs for the Centre’s Drug Revolving Fund were delivered by NADF.

 

Tsonzo – Again this was an “unannounced” evaluation and an informal inspection was carried out, specifically to assess condition of their milk cans and basins for possible order.  Centre Rehabilitation was also discussed.  Drugs for the Centre’s Drug Revolving Fund were delivered.  In December the Centre had an intake of 6 418 litres, an increase from

4 164 received in November.  This is mainly due to continuous feeding of stock feed supplied by the Programme via a Stock Feed Revolving Fund.  The death of a heifer which was supplied to Tsonzo via the Heifer Replacement Scheme was discussed at some length and we await laboratory results on this.

 

Rusitu – The purpose of this visit was to resolve issues pertaining to their milk collection and continuous requests for generators for the 2 centres; Mayfield and Upperrand.  Both centres had their ZESA service terminated some months ago due to non-payment of account.  Sue Bell explained that at the current intake of approx. 75 litres per day, the Centre simply could not sustain the costs of running and maintaining generators.  The situation was discussed at length with the Committees from both Centres and Mr Makoni from DZL and it was resolved that as a starting point we should pursue ZESA in getting their service re-connected.  The Committee would also approach them to find out the cost of possibly switching them to another line, i.e. Chimanimani.  In the meantime, once they have power supply again, we will monitor exactly how many outages they have and from there assess the feasibility of installing a generator once they have the income to support such a cost.  An evaluation of the Centre’s administration was done for planning of future training.  Sue Bell inspected a Bull which was then purchased for use by the association members.  Drugs for the Centre’s Drug Revolving Fund were delivered.  An assessment of Upperrand Centre was also carried out, mainly to assess the road access for possible report back to NDC for future milk collections and farm visits to two of the member’s farms.

 

WEEKLY CATTLE PRICES

 

Please email [email protected] for the graphs

 

 

 

ZIMBABWE CROP PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION (from the desk of Richard Taylor)

 

EU Fertilizer tranche is coming to an end.  Please those of you who still have fertilizer to collect organize with Windmill or ZFC to make collection as soon possible.  Should you not collect your fertilizer this will more than likely be a refund to yourselves and the EU which will impact adversely on future EU deals.  Again please ensure that your collection voucher is valid and should this not be the case, come into CFU and see Neil Wright.

 

Supply of AN has been and continues to be a problem. ZFC and Windmill have made alternative plans, as in Urea and CAN, to full fill their side of the deal.

 

I look forward to getting out and visiting you all over the next few month. Feel free to contact me on cell 091-2-311704 or direct line 309862 (office hours) should you have any queries or suggestions

 

Local as at 2009 (US$) 22 January 2010

 

Please email [email protected] for the graphs

 

South African Foreign Exchange (SAFEX) as at 22 January 2010

 

Please email [email protected] for the graphs

 

International Gulf

 

Please email [email protected] for the graphs

 

Source: South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS)

 

 

COMMENTS AND VIEWS

 

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