South Africa’s 2024/25 soybean harvest faces serious risks as relentless rainfall has stalled progress in major production regions. Farmers are experiencing widespread delays, unable to harvest consistently due to wet conditions that show no sign of easing.
Boipelo Kekana, managing director at Botiso, warns that the harvest has become a stop-start affair, with producers seizing short dry windows only to retreat when rain returns. These frequent interruptions are not just affecting schedules, they’re also damaging crop quality.
“Soybeans require a moisture content of 13% or lower for safe storage and processing. However, current field conditions have made it nearly impossible to reach these levels naturally,” Kekana said.
Harvesting delays
According to Kekana, when pods remain wet for too long, they’re prone to splitting once exposed to excessive sunlight post excessive moisture. This is a condition that can result in yield losses of between 20% and 50% in hard-hit areas. Soybeans are also highly sensitive to temperature changes, capable of losing up to 2.5% moisture from morning to afternoon, which requires close monitoring.
Kekana reported that a farmer’s attempt to harvest 50 hectares of soybeans in two days in Carltonville, Gauteng, has stretched into two weeks as rain has forced continuous sampling and testing of moisture levels.
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He noted that a delayed harvest threatens to ripple across the agricultural value chain. Soybeans are a key input for South Africa’s feed and oilseed sectors.
“Urgent dry spells are needed, not just to complete harvesting, but to avert wider economic consequences across South Africa’s agricultural economy.”
Senior agricultural economist at the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC), Thabile Nkunjana, echoed these concerns, noting that while rain is generally beneficial during growth stages, the timing this season is problematic.
Harvest delays across key oilseed regions are beginning to show market effects. “Around the 15th of April 2025, the soybean spot price increased to R7 820 due to concerns about crop quality after these rains, and the future price per tonne increased to R7 796 for May 25.”
“Even though this was higher, it was still less than the average spot price of R8 499 in March 2024. The ongoing weather conditions pose a risk, which is bad news for the grain and oilseed crops,” he said.
Nkunjana warned that rising prices driven by lower-quality soybeans or limited supply may add pressure on downstream sectors, particularly the livestock and poultry industries.
Farmers voice concern
Mpumalanga based soybean farmer Mlungisi Mdibani reflected on what began as a promising season but has now turned into a stressful wait for dry conditions.
“The drought at first, when we were planting it, didn’t affect us that much because we received plenty of rain. We were able to plant more than 70% of our fields without any disturbance from the drought. The soya emerged very well, and then they grew very well.
“Now we are unable to harvest because of too much rain. It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this since I started farming,” he said.
Free State maize and soybean farmer Reggie Nkambule said the wet weather this year favoured the soybean much better than maize, but it has started to affect the harvest as many cannot harvest due to the fields being too wet.
“No season is the same. We adjust as we progress with the season because we cannot predict the seasons. We just have to plan and hope for the best with what we have and know.”
Meanwhile, rain is set to continue in Gauteng and Mpumalanga on Thursday.
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