At a meeting held on 15 February 2018, the Crop Estimates Liaison Committee (CELC) oversaw the process for the finalisation of the crop production figures of commercial white and yellow maize, sunflower seed, soybeans, groundnuts and sorghum for 2017.

The estimated total production figures as released by the national Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) were revised, using the published figures of the South Africa Grain Information Services (SAGIS) of actual deliveries as the basis for the calculations. The figures from the maize utilisation survey to determine on-farm usage and retentions, which was conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the telephonic survey conducted by the National Crop Statistics Consortium (NCSC), were added to the SAGIS delivery figures to calculate the final crop production figures.

Comparing the final calculated crop figures with the numbers set by the CEC during September 2017, the size of the commercial maize crop is now 16,820 million tons, which is 0,45% or 76 000 tons more than the final crop estimate figure of 16,744 million tons. For white maize, the recalculated crop size is 9,916 million tons, which is 0,24% or 23 250 tons higher than the final crop estimate figure, and for yellow maize the recalculated crop size is 6,904 million tons, which is 0,77% or 52 750 tons more than the final crop estimate figure.

In the case of the commercial sunflower seed crop, the final calculated crop figure is now 874 000 tons, a decrease of 595 tons or 0,07% compared to the final crop estimate figure. The sorghum crop were adjusted upward by 0,44% (or 665 tons). The soybeans crop was slightly adjusted downward, from 1 316 370 tons to 1 316 000 tons, which is 0,03% or 370 tons less. The groundnuts crop remained unchanged at 92 050 tons.

CELC accepted the final recalculated crop production figures for 2017 (please refer to the figures in the accompanying tables). The CEC would like to thank all producers and industry role-players who provided information on a regular basis to improve the accuracy of the crop estimates. Producers, who do not participate in the Department’s monthly survey, are requested as a matter of urgency to make an effort to contribute to the crop estimates process.

Source: Crop Estimates Liaison Committee (CELC)