Farmers' Weekly 

Abstract: If you are a farmer of a certain age and have started to nervously anticipate the day when you will have to take a step back from the business, take comfort from the knowledge that you are not alone in your anxiety According to Agri SA, the average age of farmers in South Africa is 62, which means that a large number of farmers are close to or past retirement age Speaking at one of the recent panel discussions during this year’s Nation in Conversation series hosted at Nampo in Bothaville, Marelize Venter of Nedbank said that farmers were very poor at planning for retirement, and only 41% of South African farmers were in a position to retire independently from their businesses “This means that after retirement, 59% of farmers will still rely on receiving a monthly income from the farm,” she said

Abstract: Thousands of tortoises are inadvertently killed by electric fences in South Africa each year. Yet there are simple, practical steps that farmers can take to stop this. Dr Luke Arnot of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, and Steven Molteno of the global network, Local Governments for Sustainability, explain the extent of the problem, and provide solutions.