PHOTO: ALBERTUS BRINK
PHOTO: HANS BANUS
GLOBAL VIEW ▶▶▶
new’, as far as he was concerned. He did add that labs, in his experience, do deliver consist- ent results. High is always high, Low is always low. He was fine working with that. Of course, the question remains whether or not 50 years of fertilisation advice have result- ed in the optimum quantity of minerals for the crops at the right time. How precise has the fertilisation process actually been in the past years? Against the backdrop of precision farming with variable fertilisation in exactly the right spot, the expression ‘penny wise, pound fool- ish’ seems very apt, by getting your soil sam- pled one more time elsewhere could actually pay off. This to be sure that you’re not fine tuning on the last grams of fertiliser, where at the same time your global starting point is unreliable.
Boerderij had 7 soil laboratories analyse 1 soil sample. 5 of these laboratories are accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council.
Removing the guesswork BY ARTHUR GRAY A
lbertus Brink farms in the Hoopstad area of the Free State Province, the heart of South Africa’s
maize triangle. 15 years ago, in 2003, he switched his way of thinking about his farming operation, Veekraal Boerdery. He now regards precision farming as a management tool that enables him to make optimal use of his land and achieve the highest possible return on his investment. He started by analysing and classifying the soils on his lands in a diamond pattern and realised that certain areas were not receiving sufficient nutrients, while others were being overdosed. Soil analysis enabled him to begin finding solu- tions. His view is that farmers will get better re- sults if they discontinue the conventional prac- tice of using average inputs, and instead, use specific inputs for the various areas according to their needs. He feels that to make a profit, input costs must be consistent with the land’s poten- tial. By putting the fertiliser where it can do the most good, he gets a better net yield and an improved profit margin. The farm’s Claas Lexion combine is fitted with the Claas Cemos and Cebis systems as well as a
Albertus Brink’s John Deere 9570RX Four-Track with Equalizer 32-row planter.
GPS system that monitors yields by area. The yield maps are used by consultants, SGS Nviro- crop, to create prescription maps. The pre- scribed variable rates of fertiliser are then applied, granular prior to planting and a liquid ‘pop-up’ fertiliser with the planter.
Gradual improvement Mr Brink says that savings on the fertiliser account were not significant during the early years, due to the necessity to correct imbal- ances in the soil. Eventually it became more
beneficial to use single product fertilisers at prescribed rates. This definitely lowered costs and improved both yields and profitability. Results have been quite spectacular; in 2014 a yield of 10,462 tons/hectare was achieved on a test plot, with the Dekalb maize cultivar 7777. He says, “The more information you have at your disposal, the better you can do your planning, and make decisions according- ly. With precision farming a lot of the guess- work is removed, you know exactly what’s happening in the land.”
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 1 November 2018 43
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