Senwes Scenario December 2016 / January 2017 | Page 28

••••

T RADE N E W S

How the handling of grain
changed over time?
PART I

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE AND PHOTOGRAPH
APPEARED IN THE
FARMERS' WEEKLY ON 11
JULY 2016: A PILE OF 64
000 BAGS OF MAIZE OF
THE CENTRAAL WESTELIKE
KOÖPERATIEWE
LANDBOUVERENIGING
ON THE RAILWAY SIDING AMERIKA NEAR
KROONSTAD.”

(SWK) received approximately
27,000 tons of maize and the
maize, which was delivered to
the Amerika depot, represented
approximately 20% of the total
SWK crop. At the time it was the
main maize production area in the
Senwes area and also the reason
why the first retail branch was
established in Heilbron in 1939.
Maize was transport to the depot
by oxwagon that year. The imperial bags of 90 kilogram each were
stacked on the bag bearer's head
and he walked to the maize pile
on a plank, where he had to place
the bag on the stock pile. The pile

was packed in a way similar to the
manner in which the old pyramids
were built in Egypt. A slope was
left at the side of the maize pile,
on which planks were placed. The
maize was then carried on a track
which ran around the stock pile
and placed in a suitable location.
The pile on the foreground has
been completed and the track
which had been left open to walk
on, had been filled up. When the
maize had to be railed, the track
would be opened again, right up
to the top of the pile. In most
instances this method was followed until the early sixties.

THYS GROBBELAAR
SENIOR GRAIN ANALYST,
SENWES GRAINLINK

A

ccording to Saunders(1930)
in Maize in South Africa,
the Kroonstad district produced
the most maize in the whole
of South Africa. According to
Saunders the Kroonstad district
produced 856 096 bags of maize
on average, with a mass of 90kg
per bag for the period 1923 to
1927. In metric terms 590 kilogram per hectares were produced.
The district which came closest
to Kroonstad in respect of maize
production was Bethal, with an
average of 666,375 bags per season. When I read this article my
thoughts went back over time
in history and how things have
changed to date.
During the season referred to
above, the Centraal Westelike
Koöperatiewe Landbou¬vereniging

26

South Africa actively accessed the
maize export market in 1909,
with Argentine as one of its largest
competitors. The export destinations were mainly England and
Europe. The 90 kilogram bags
resulted in a frustrating export
attempt, which is evident in the
photograph below. In this photograph 90 kilogram bags are loaded
from the railway car onto a ship.

Look out for the next Senwes Scenario for Part II of the article.

DEC 2016/JAN 2017 • SENWES Scenario