Field Crops

In 1996, when Margie Jankielsohn and her husband Mark bought 548ha of the farm Merino in the Bethlehem district of the Free State, they had no idea that their operation would become one of the most successful apple producers in the Malutis.

Alan Sutton, chairperson of the Valley Macadamias Group and owner of Sutton Crest Farms has been crowned the Mpumalanga Farmer of the Year 2014 by the Agricultural Writers’ Association.

Situated along a 350km stretch of the Orange River, Orange River Cellars uses creative production techniques to deal with high temperatures in the harsh semi-desert climate.

A degree of operational loss is unavoidable when using irrigation. But water loss because of poor or non-existent maintenance of irrigation equipment, pipelines and dams, is unacceptable.

Canola plantings in the Swartland in the Western Cape have been increasing steadily over the past few years, as more farmers recognise the benefits of including canola as a viable cash crop in rotation with wheat and other grain crops.

Situated along 2 100km of the continent’s east coast, Australia’s 385 000ha sugar industry was producing a whopping 32 million tons of irrigated sugarcane in 2008. This was processed to produce 4,7 million tons of raw sugar.

Agricultural practices that degrade the soil are responsible for a host of problems: erosion, nutrient runoff, waterlogging, acidification, compaction, crusting, salinisation, nutrient depletion, leaching, organic matter loss, toxic accumulation, and desertification.

Ralph Swart, who has lived in Elim, Western Cape, all his life, began farming in 1975 with roughly 2ha for planting, one cow and 10 sheep. Today he farms on 1 280ha. He shares the secrets of his success with Farmer’s Weekly:

Award-winning barley farmer Hermie van Zyl of the Western Cape has worked with his father and uncle over the years to fine-tune their production plan. Their success, he maintains, lies in sticking with this method.

Morapedi Mutloane left his job in the corporate world in 2012 to get back into agriculture.

Western Cape Young Farmer of the Year 2014, Jaco du Toit, is never happy sticking with the status quo. His practical research approach to farming has resulted in innovations in table grape production, and he has become a role model for his peers.

The Rethabiseng Food Garden Project’s new flow-through vermicasting operation not only complements the organic production of vegetables and herbs, but is helping to combat climate change.