Crops

From humble beginnings, Walter Williams has grown a business that today has three farms as well as a fruit packing business in the Ceres Valley. He spoke to Denene Erasmus about his early days as a farmer and his tried-and-tested production techniques.

On top of the Piketberg, Advanced Potato Propagation propagates mini-tubers in specially adapted greenhouses. Jay Ferreira speaks to APP’s manager, Ferdi Breytenbach.

The eastern Free State’s apple orchards are doing well with a small edge in marketing time over the more established orchards of the Western Cape. Lloyd Phillips talks to Charles Smith of Fyvie Farming.

‘VAC’ is my acronym. It stands for ‘visibility, availability and credibility’, and refers to the need for a market manager (MM) to be on the market floor as frequently as possible.

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is a fungus in a hurry, and may already have done much damage if you’re not awake and watching out for the conditions which favour it.

Janie Cilliers became a farmer out of necessity, but soon fell in love with it. And, after much hard toil, seven years down the line JC Trading in Brits has grown from four tunnels to 29, delivering nearly 25 000 cucumbers a week. Lindi van Rooyen reports.

Leaf miners need not be the threat they were when originally introduced.

In the drive to mine the wealth of Mpumalanga, many productive farms have been turned into open cast mines while others wait to be dug up. Investing in soil which is soon to be mined presents some challenges to the farmer. Lindi van Rooyen visited Ivan Enslin to see how an appropriate soil management plan can save money and optimise yield.

Being a market manager (MM) on a fresh produce market is a hands-on business and not about skulking in sumptuous offices. Unfortunately, far too many of our current crop of MMs seem to prefer the latter option.

As if the challenges of growing tomatoes aren’t enough, tomato farmers seem to be constantly subjected to new pests and diseases.

Canadian canola expert Phil Thomas says producers can improve yields with innovative technology and better farming practices. Kobus van Tonder reports on Phil’s recent visit to SA.

We spoke about the fiduciary relationship between producer and market agent in the previous issue and focused on the producer. This week we turn the spotlight on the market agent.