Caxton Magazines
Plan your harvest
When planting a crop on a continuous basis, the tendency is to plant the same quantity regularly. This seems logical, but it's not the best way to proceed, as yields can vary greatly from week to week.
Growing potatoes
Potatoes are nutritious vegetables and form the staple diet of millions of people.
Show judging criteria for pigeons
What do you look for? And should you apply the textbook requirements of the show to select pigeons for race lofts? These are questions I'm asked frequently by beginners, and it's not hard to see why.
Growing onions
Onions are one of the first crops of spring. They are very versatile and can be stored during winter. They are frost resistant and grow in most climates.
Desperate to reap the former homelands’ elusive harvests
Government-funded development agency Asgisa Eastern Cape, food giant Unilever South Africa and the Development Bank of South Africa recently signed an agreement in East London to promote crop production to supply Unilever’s processed food range. Mike Burgess assesses the developmental challenges that may face this agreement, as reflected in a paprika project near Keiskammahoek, and possible long-term solutions to an embarrassing developmental vacuum in the region.
Basic goat management and feeding
Proper management of goats is very important because they can cover a large area in a day searching for food. They are also intelligent and can get through fences and into other people's yards and vegetable gardens, creating problems between you and your neighbours.
How to grow and harvest carrots
Carrots grow well and develop long straight roots when planted in loose, deep, rock-free, sandy loam soil.
Protocol at pigeon auctions
Thomas Smit explains how auctions differ, and offers some words of caution.
Bryan Marshall’s Super Racing Pigeons
It’s been a long journey since Bryan Marshall’s first pigeon races in 1967, writes Thomas Smit.
Small-scale egg production
To provide eggs for your family, start off small by keeping about 12 layer hens, and then start your own small business. You can grow as your resources grow and you gain experience.
Cane growers: get help keeping your books up to date
There are many complicated financial topics that concern all farmers, from pay as you earn (PAYE), value added tax (VAT), provisional taxes, income tax, management accounts and financial statements.
Moringa: A tree for all seasons
The moringa tree is being touted as the ideal biodiesel crop for communities farming on marginal soils, writes Robyn Joubert.
The story of SA’s first stock fence
John Sweet Distin built the first livestock fence in South Africa back in the 1800s, making him one of farming’s first livestock management pioneers. But it was his spendthrift sons who would eventually prove his undoing. Heather Dugmore recently visited Distin’s Tafelburg Hall farm near Middelburg.
Pre-event calm for horse riders
With event pressure weighing heavy on many riders, Kim Dyson suggests some relaxation techniques.
Game farming: Are conservation principles at risk?
The fierce debate around alien and invasive species regulations highlights the conflict between long-term sustainability, sought by conservation authorities, and short-term financial gain, important to game ranchers. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.
Diversified farming, booming business
A mission station in the rural hilltops of KwaZulu-Natal has diversified into a range of agricultural activities, but peppers grown under state-of-the-art greenhouses and export avocados are the main commercial crops.
Robyn Joubert reports on an extraordinary farming enterprise.
Getting to the bottom of cavity spot mysteries
Cavity Spot is a very destructive carrot disease that has been giving farmers and researchers sleepless nights all over the world. It has been determined that cavity spots on carrots are caused by the soil fungus Pythium.
Krone: EasyCollect 753, easy to transport
German company Krone began making forage harvesters in 1977, selling 5 000 “Corn Chopper” tractor mounted units. In the 1980s Krone introduced its first self-propelled harvesters. The latest range of Big X models includes monsters powered by twin engines with up to 750kW of power. Krone harvesters imported into South Africa by Rovic and Leers come with the new EasyCollect 753 maize header.
Smaller business options
Different business vehicles are taxed in different ways, which should guide your vehicle choice before you start up.
Developing an award-winning bed and breakfast on-farm
While the hospitality industry isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, an Mpumalanga farming couple has been able to successfully marry their farming business with a now internationally renowned and multi-award-winning, four-star
on-farm accommodation and dining establishment. Lloyd Phillips reports.
