For many of us, it is time of year to leave the farm. That is if you are fortunate enough to have the time and money and reliable managers to look after your interests while you enjoy your well-deserved holiday. But as a rule, the beginning of the year is not a good time to put a long distance between you and your farm, especially for crop farmers.

Some of the soy bean and maize plants are still very young and fragile, and need intensive care. If you are one of the lucky ones, please drive safely. We can’t afford to lose one farmer or a farmer out of action for too long. 2018 will be full of new challenges. African swine flu and fall army worm again surprised us with their presence.

The battle for better grain prices still continues and we can only hope that the FRA (Food Reserve  Agency) and the FISP (Farmer Input Support Programme) will pay out all the maize farmers before  it is hopelessly too late to start planting. Agriserve Agro and I also visited the Zetor factory in the Czech Republic during our recent tour and they invited me to drive their FORTERRA 150 HD.

On page 14, you can read more about the Zetor brand and this magnificent machine which is  imported to serve Zambian farmers. This month, Bonnox tells us more about their game fencing and we ogled Land Rover’s Discovery 5. Turnerland Manufacturing, with their Turner brand, is ready to assist you in all your potato needs. Our regular sheep farming, oil seed processing, soil and spraying techniques series also offer valuable information.

Farm smartly!
Du Preez de Villiers – dupreez@proagri.co.za

Read ProAgri Zambia 25 here: ProAgri_zambia_25