# South African farmers plan the smallest maize crop in eight years and switch to sunflower as El Niño looms

> The Crop Estimates Committee's first planting-intention survey shows South African maize area falling 12.37% to 2.387 million hectares, the lowest in eight years, with white maize down more than 18%. Sunflower plantings are intended to rise almost 45% on better prices, lower input costs and a shorter season.

- Date: 2026-11-03 · published 2026-11-03T07:39:00.674Z
- Category: weather · region South Africa · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/77298-south-african-farmers-plan-the-smallest-maize-crop-in-eight-years-and-switch-to
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Sunflower Meal](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SUNMEAL.md)

## Why it matters

A smaller maize crop tightens South African feed grain supply and could push up corn import demand, while the shift to sunflower adds future sunflower meal supply. El Niño drought risk and high fertiliser and fuel costs reinforce the tighter maize outlook.

## Read by commodity

- CORN: bullish ▲
- SUNMEAL: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2026-09-04 | [El Niño drives crop failure in Central America and East Africa and threatens the next season in Southern Africa, East Africa, Western South America, and Southeast Asia - Joint Research Centre](https://feedsoft.ai/events/17395-el-nino-drives-crop-failure-in-central-america-and-east-africa-and-threatens.md) | +0.5% | +1.9% |
| CORN | 2019-01-25 | [Smaller acreage for maize in South Africa - prices rise](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61122-smaller-acreage-for-maize-in-south-africa-prices-rise.md) | +0.9% | +1.4% |
| CORN | 2023-04-24 | [Argentina Soybean Crop Smallest in 25 Years Due to Historic Drought - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/13969-argentina-soybean-crop-smallest-in-25-years-due-to-historic-drought-agweb.md) | -0.7% | -9.9% |
| CORN | 2026-09-10 | [Drought expands in the lower Midwest - Pro Farmer](https://feedsoft.ai/events/12961-drought-expands-in-the-lower-midwest-pro-farmer.md) | +4.3% | +1.1% |
| CORN | 2019-01-15 | [Challenging year ahead for South African beef cattle farmers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61042-challenging-year-ahead-for-south-african-beef-cattle-farmers.md) | +0.5% | +0.8% |

## Sources

- agronewstoday.com: https://agronewstoday.com/article/south-africa-maize-plantings-fall-sunflower

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.