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IN THE SPOTLIGHT •••
Erik Maré , secretary Corinda Marais and Paul Maré .
Paul Maré between two of his farm managers , Sybrand van Niekerk and André Steenkamp .
hectares of which are used for crop planting .
Paul produces mainly white maize . In the past he also planted ground-nuts and soybeans and he started with precision farming practices in 2012 . He now specialises in planting maize . “ It makes your labour management so much easier ,” says Paul .
THIRD GENERATION FARMER He is proud of the fact that his grandfather and namesake , Paul Jakokus , was also a farmer . He planted summer crops and was a dairy farmer . A number of the old diary buildings are still standing and he has just not been able to demolish these buildings . “ There is some sentiment involved in these buildings ,” he says .
His father , Frikkie , also had a dairy and farmed with Simmentalers . However , his father never really farmed with him . His real passion was his legal practice , Venter / Havemann / Maré . Viljoenskroon inhabitants will remember him as mayor of the town . He fulfilled this role a number of times from the sixties to the eighties . However , he died in 2012 .
PRECISION FARMING Better yields were the result of precision farming and the yield improved from an average of 4.1 tons per hectare to 5.1 tons per hectare . Then you also have to take into account fuel and fertiliser savings , GPS-technology and precision liming and fertilising . “ We used to change the direction of our rows every year and used to loosen the soil and then compact it again . We have now started to apply the train-tracking method and we no longer move the loose soil areas .”
STUD-FARMING The stud-farming , which started in 1987 , expanded to approximately 400 Bonsmara stud cows over the years . He says that the cattle farming unit is done in synergy with the crop farming unit . Land not used and marsh areas are utilised by the cattle during the summer months and stubble on the fields during winter . They also make approximately 500 tons of silage every year , which is used as rations for the phase D bulls .
AUCTIONS Paul holds his own auctions every year and this year the auctions will be held just before the Nampo Harvest Day on 10 May at Vlakvlei farm . He will be selling 70 stud bulls , 20 stud cows and 120 commercial cows . He has two auctions nowadays - one covering the winter stud season and one the summer stud season requirements .
FARMING AT VILJOENSKROON Farming in the Northern Free State is different to farming in the Eastern Free State , where they receive more and earlier rain , they plant earlier , they have sour pasture and the winters are more severe . He can say this : “ Should a farmer rooted in this area move , he will have to pay school fees again .” This links up well with his motto : “ In farming you should not move around too much - rather do what you do even better .” His goal is to optimally develop his land to ensure the best production in respect of crops and cattle .
PERSONNEL Paul has 30 full-time employees and also accommodates a number of seasonal labourers .
These employees include four farm managers , Sybrand van Niekerk , Christo Snyman , André Steenkamp and Pieter Hattingh . " They all have extensive farming experience . “ Strangely enough , I did not recruit one of them ,” Paul says , because they all knew him before they came to work for him . They have been working for him for between 7 and 26 years . In addition to the farm managers ,
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SENWES Scenario • APRIL / MAY 2017 21