Agrochemical

• Preparation of the land for winter crops begins in April, which is also the same time harvesting of the summer crops begins.
• Farmers in the Western and Northern Cape, Free State, Limpopo and other winter crop growing regions are making arrangements for growing winter wheat, canola, barley and oats.
• This year, the outlook for winter crops is clouded by a difficult operating environment, especially the areas that are under irrigation.

Headwinds

• South Africa’s agriculture has never faced a period of power cuts as severe as the current ones.
• For example, recent work by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) shows that roughly a third of South Africa’s farming income is directly dependent on irrigation.
• This shows that disruptions in power supply generally puts at risk a substantive share of the South African agricultural fortunes.
• Of the other key field crops, about 15% of soybeans, 20% of maize and 34% of sugar production are under irrigation.

There are positives

• This is according to Crop Estimates Committee, a government and industry body that monitors crop production.
• These declines would have been higher had the South African Rand not weakened against the US dollar over the same period.
• That’s because in US dollar terms, the prices of the very same agrochemicals are down by 30% from February 2022.
• I generally expect an ample harvest in most summer crops, which is aligned with the view of the Crop Estimates Committee.

Takeways

• The one major risk is electricity stability.
• If the government’s proposed interventions help during irrigation periods – afternoons and evenings – South Africans can expect a favourable winter season.

• Ingevity Corporation (NYSE:NGVT) announced today that operations at the company’s North Charleston, South Carolina, plant will continue as normal with the announced closure of WestRock Company’s (NYSE:WRK) North Charleston, South Carolina, paper mill.
• The two companies will work together to transition limited shared services ahead of the August 31, 2023, closure of the WestRock facility.
• The companies share a common history, but Ingevity has operated as a stand-alone public company since May of 2016.
• Headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, Ingevity operates from 31 countries around the world and employs approximately 2,050 people.

• The dataset represents 8 new evaluable patients in multiple myeloma and 3 new evaluable patients in light chain (AL) amyloidosis (paper and poster publications www.nexcella.com/publications ).
• The new data are being presented during a poster presentation at the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation 49th Annual Meeting in Paris, France, April 23-26.
• “In multiple myeloma, these data are compelling as the overall response rate for ABECMA was 72% in its pivotal KarMMa trial with 100 patients in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
• Nexcella plans to submit data to the FDA in AL amyloidosis once 30-40 patients are treated with NXC-201.

• The Mexican avocado industry and its farmers are committed to preserving biodiversity, not only because it's good for the planet, but because it's also good for their farms.
• Sustainability is essential for avocado farmers and their communities to thrive despite the pressures of the changing planet.
• "For the Avocado Institute, Earth Day is more than a one-day celebration of sustainability.
• Establishing agricultural and environmental limits to make sure new avocado harvesting areas don't negatively impact biodiversity, in partnership with the government of Michoacán.