SA’s 2017 maize harvest is still expected at 15.631-million tonnes — the largest maize crop to date in the country. In its fifth production estimate report for the year, on Wednesday the Crop Estimates Committee said the size of the maize crop remained unchanged from the previous estimate in May. The three main maize-producing areas, namely the Free State, Mpumalanga and North West, are expected to produce 83% of the 2017 crop. Favourable weather conditions have enabled farmers to increase the area planted for summer crops. The expected crop has already led to a significant fall in grain prices in anticipation of the harvest. The white maize futures contract for delivery in July was R1,680 per tonne on the JSE’s commodity derivatives market, on Wednesday. The production forecast for sunflower seed fell 3.69% to 821,970 tonnes. The forecast for soybeans rose 8.70% to 1.34 million tonnes.
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