The Olmi brush removal machine is the answer to eradicating weeds without the use of chemicals. Johnathan Grieve, owner of Avondale Wine Estate in Paarl, Western Cape, explains it’s able to cut vertically and work on rocky land without damaging soil life, making it ideal for vines.
“Weed management on any farm can tricky, but more so on a farm run on organic principles,” says Johnathan Grieve, owner of Avondale Wine Estate. He uses the concept of biologic farming, combining organic, biodynamic and modern science in such a way that no chemicals are used on his farm. “We’ve been managing weeds through soil balancing and cover crops according to the Albrecht method, but due to the long-term nature of the project, we always have undesirable weeds.”
This is where the Olmi brush removal machine comes in. The machine is a huge weed-eater, working on the same principle of a revolving drum and slashing the weeds with nylon gut. But due to its unique design, it has several advantages. The drum is at such an angle that slashing is done vertically and not horizontally. So you can slash weeds growing in between the vines without damaging their trunks.
Suckering (removing of young shoots from vine trunks) is done at the same time, but at a fraction of the time and cost of doing it manually. The brush cutter can work on rocky land, as it doesn’t have solid blades. It also doesn’t work in the soil, so there’s no damage to soil life. “This suits us, as the Avondale has a very rocky soil profile,” Johnathan says.
“We started using the machine in vineyards that had no weed control during the past five years. We were able to do 3ha/day, and after doing 90ha, the cost was around R300/ha, including diesel, labour and maintenance.” Johnathan says the machine should be able to handle between 8ha/day to 10ha/day once the weeds are brought under control. The gut spool is operated manually and gut length needs to be checked and adjusted as required. “We managed to work 3ha on one drum of gut in our tough conditions, which costs us R58/ha for the gut. We believe this will improve to 5ha to 6ha.” The machine has a simple and robust design. A small 30kW tractor can operate it and it’s an invaluable tool for producers who’d like to cut down on herbicide usage and still have control over weeds.
Johnathan strongly believes in the machine’s usefulness and has acquired the import and distribution rights for the Olmi brand in South Africa. The retail price is about R80 000 excluding VAT per machine. – Wouter Kriel |fw
