South African Grain Information Service supplies valuable production data that allows the maize, oilseed, winter grain and sorghum industries to make informed decisions and ensure sufficient local supplies.
Information is shared about white and yellow maize, as well as maize products, such as maize chop, maize rice, maize grits, samp, maize meal and other maize products destined for human consumption. Production of winter cereals takes place in the Western Cape areas of Southern Cape and Swartland, where wheat usually forms the main income stream.
With limited crop choices to rotate with wheat, winter cereal farmers often keep livestock, such as sheep or cattle, to add value to feed crops in the rotation, such as lucerne, medics and lupines.
In terms of oilseeds, information is separated into sunflower, soybean, canola and groundnuts as well as products produced from oilseeds, such as palm oil and oilcake, soybean oil and oilcake, sunflower oil and oilcake, cottonseed oil and oilcake, coconut oil and oilcake, canola oil and oilcake, corn oil and oilcake, groundnut oil, palm nut oilcake and other oil blends.
Winter cereals are separated into wheat, barley and oats, including products such as cake flour, self-raising flour, white and brown bread flour, semolina, bran and others.
South African Grain Information Service also provides inspection services, with inspection functions such as stocktaking, audits, new registrations and cancellations.
This section on grain crops of South Africa looks at crops grown by subsistence and commercial farmers. These crops are often very suitable ...