By Darren Goebel, Director Agronomy and Farm Services – AGCO Corporation

AGCO has the fortune of having great customers and dealers all over the world. Africa is no exception. You may have heard about the Future Farm we have in Zambia, focused on bringing new technology and agronomic knowledge to the region. But that’s not the focus for the Africa Crop Tour Blog. I want to tell you about South Africa and one of the exciting projects we have in place through collaboration with Cerealis, an AGCO dealer, and Precision Planting equipment distributor.

South Africa is an important Agriculture producer, growing corn, wheat, sunflower, soybeans, beans, grain sorghum, peanuts, and sugarcane. But like in the United States, corn is king. This makes Precision Planting’s corn agronomy expertise a great fit for South Africa. And AGCO with Massey Ferguson planters and other AG Equipment is a recognized leader in the region.

But let me get back to the project. Surprisingly this Africa project actually started in Germany; at Agrictechnica in November of 2017 to be precise. I had a chance meeting with Josey Hendriks, managing director for technology at Cerealis. We chatted a bit about corn production and what Cerealis was doing in Africa to educate growers on the latest agronomy practices. And then he asked about conducting a Crop Tour event in South Africa. Josey had heard about the initiative in the United States aimed at educating growers on ways to improve corn yield through improved management practices at planting. I was excited and we engaged in a fast paced discussion about the benefits to growers in South Africa, what it would take to pull it off, and when we would need to get started. “Now!” was Josey’s reply. “I have guys ready to get started planting as soon as we get enough rain to insure proper germination. Can you send me the Crop Tour plot protocol tonight?” It seemed that even though it was cold in Germany planting season was on the verge of breaking loose in South Africa.

Since then a team at Cerealis has been doing what they do best, setting up the right environment to insure learning will take place later in the season. They implemented the Crop Tour plot protocol that includes studies focused on the importance of even emergence (photo right), precise depth control , proper downforce, and highly accurate seed singulation and spacing. They have plots focused on both corn and sunflower established and growing near Lichtenberg, South Africa.

On 25 April, AGCO, Precision Planting, and Cerealis will host farmers for an educational event at the Crop Tour plots. There we will evaluate the effects of our differing planter treatments on corn growth and development.   I am looking forward to being there to talk to growers like I have throughout the United States and Russia in 2016 and 2017.

*Darren has been a crop consultant and agronomist throughout his career, with work encompassing virtually all crops and geographies including Southeast Asia, China, India, Eastern Europe, Brazil, Mexico, U.S., and Canada. Areas of specialization include soil fertility, crop management, precision farming, and agronomic research. He grew up on a grain, livestock and specialty produce farm in southwest Indiana.

Educational event:

Customer: Martin Janse van Rensburg of the Farm Rietfontein

Location: Derby, North-West Province

Date: 25th April 2018

Time: 09:00 – 10:00

The coordinates are 25DEG56’34”S27DEG00’54”E

Agenda

1. Arrival and Welcome – Cerealis
2. Corn and Sunflower Agronomy as affected by planting quality – 30 minutes
3. Review Key Corn Plot differences – 30 minutes
4. Review Key Sunflower Plot differences – 30 minutes
5. Review the Planter Technology that provides the enhanced plant performance – 30 minutes
6. Question and Answer session as required