South African Wheat Farmers have Started Delivering the New Crop

Farmers have delivered about 45,420 tonnes of wheat to commercial silos

It is a busy time in South Africa’s agriculture. In the northern regions, the farmers are tilling the land for the 2025-26 season. In horticulture, some fruit harvests will begin soon. In winter crops, South Africa’s 2025-26 winter wheat early harvest seems to have started in some regions.

I am looking at the producer deliveries data for the 2025-26 marketing year, and we are seeing that farmers have begun delivering the new season crop to commercial silos. This crop was planted from the start of May.

In the first three weeks of this new marketing year, which started this October 2025, farmers have delivered about 45,420 tonnes of wheat to commercial silos. These are still early days, and the harvest will gain momentum in the coming months.

We have a generally better season, although not all regions are joyous about it. South Africa’s 2025-26 winter wheat harvest is forecast at 2.03 million tonnes, up 5% from last year. The annual improvement is boosted by the expected better harvest in the Northern Cape, Free State, Eastern Cape, and Limpopo.

The Western Cape, which accounts for over half of South Africa’s winter wheat production, is set to experience a mild decline in the harvest this year compared to the 2024-25 season due to unfavourable weather conditions in some parts of the province.

We will know more about the quality and yields as the harvest gains momentum in the coming months. Regarding the 2025-26 summer crop, I will likely comment on the farmers’ planting intentions data during the week.

But we are generally in a busy time in our sector. Fortunately for me, I farm on spreadsheets and MS Word.