NEWS
Senwes will be investing
R40 million in information
technology over the next year.
Agriculture finds itself in
the midst of the
innovation space.
06 | Now and into the future with Senwes
Agriculture finds itself in the midst of the
innovation space. Intellect is brought in
to find solutions. Why? Because our busi-
ness can only grow on the back of the
growth of our customers' businesses.
We have a certain space within the
value chain and we will continue to inno-
vate and diversify within this space as far
as commodity, trademarks, partners and
geographic areas (even internationally)
are concerned.
Land debate and the future
Performance is incentivised by the right
to own property and certainty in respect
thereof. It is not necessary to change
section 25 in order to bring about land
reform. Government owns 6 000 unpro-
ductive farms. Start with those, activate
balance sheet items by ensuring that
people become actively involved. Senwes
submitted a written presentation to par-
liament and we are hoping to make a
physical presentation as well. It will only
be possible to really achieve something if
final decisions, action plans and practical
ideas are captured in legislation.
RELATIONSHIPS ARE STABLE
GROUND - NOW AND INTO THE
FUTURE
By building and maintaining relation-
ships, you will be able to receive pro-
active advice and people will support
you. Relationships carry people
through difficult times.
Remember, long-term
relationships are
not found in
trademarks.
When a
8
SENWES SCENARIO | SPRING 2018
customer wants Senwes to assist him, he
actually wants his branch manager, silo
manager, etcetera, to assist him. During
unstable times relationships become even
more important, because relationships
bring solutions. It helps you get up and to
push forward, and this has to be the per-
manent solution. healthier by means of natural
resistance.
Understand exactly what your
customer needs
We sell tractors, but the producer does
not really want a tractor. He wants a
ploughed field. When you sell solutions,
you sell maximum time on a tractor and
everything producers need. CONCLUSION
After two profits of R151 million and R167
million respectively, a normalised profit of
R311 million was achieved in 2017/2018.
The achievement of reasonable profits, even
in poor years, is a strategy. It is pointless
to reflect a R500 million profit followed by
a R120 million loss and to then sell it as a
strategy!
The previous crop of 17 million tons will
be followed by 13 million tons this year. We
are not sure of how the second half of the
season will progress as far as rainfall is con-
cerned, but carry-over moisture levels are at
a reasonable level and obviously carry-over
grain levels as well.
This over-provision of grain is continuing,
internationally and nationally, which means
that our input channel is still under pressure.
On the positive side, I suspect that soft com-
modity prices are at the bottom turning point.
I can see the first signs in this regard. We are
positive about an improvement in the input
channel business over the next 24 months.
Should market access, input and financial
services business start to improve at the
same time, good results can be expected.
Agriculture and food chain related busi-
nesses are long-term businesses. For this
reason we still invest money into Senwes in
order to guarantee future solutions for our
customers.
Future market changes
Food production is moving closer and
closer to consumers - the supply chain
is becoming faster and shorter. I see this
happening where larger quantities of food
are produced and development in respect
of genetic manipulation is taking place.
Understand the consumer's need to
proactively live a healthier life
Food production does not only involve the
product. It also involves the composition
of the nutritional value and preferences
to be addressed. I see the world totally
different as far as the supply chain, type
of products, composition of food, feeding
patterns and preferences are concerned.
Businesses have to adjust in order to meet
the fast-changing and increasing needs.
This is exactly where Senwes wants
to be. What are we doing today to find
solutions which we can offer within this
timeframe?
The answer is to keep the population
Execution is always decisive
Make time for the execution of plans. The
customer will only see the value once
investments have been made, are opera-
tional and when the outcome is positive.