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IN T H E SP OTLI GH T
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double th
SENWES PRODUCER, HERMANN WEISS,
DEFINITELY HAS DOUBLE THE PASSION
IN EVERY THING HE DOES!
AUBREY KRUGER
I
t starts off with a double n in
his name and a double s in his
surname. This makes Hermann
an out and out German and
he is very proud of his German
heritage. He says that his parents
spoke German at home and he
can still understand the language.
The German tradition for preci
sion rubbed off on him and he
strives for precision in everything
he does.
DOUBLE PASSION: FARMING
AND ENGINEERING
Farming was actually not
Hermann's first choice - he used
to be an engineer at Sasol when
dad Gerhard asked him to choose
between engineering at Sasol and
farming. Farming won and the
rest is, as they say, history.
FARMING OPERATIONS
Hermann farms on the farm
Vlakkuil outside of Koppies. It is
situated exactly between Heilbron
and Koppies, approximately 30
20
km from both towns. However,
two thirds of the road to Koppies
is tarred.
The history of the farm dates
back to 1910. Two passionate
generations came before him - his
grandfather, Ernst Weiss, was the
first Weiss on the farm, followed
by his father, Gerhard. He was
followed by Hermann, when he
decided to continue with the
farming operations as the third
generation. Hermann is partic
ularly grateful for the few years
during which he could farm with
his father before his parents passed
away.
The farming operations are
carried out on seven farms of
approximately 4 000 hectares in
total. 2 200 hectares are used for
crop farming, where they cultivate
white maize, yellow maize and
sorghum.
You really have to be brave to
farm in this area, with a rainfall
of between 300 and 500 mm per
year. Producers are selective in
respect of the type of maize they
plant and with the no-till meth
JUN/JUL 2017 • SENWES Scenario
od on good turf, they have also
adjusted the number of plants per
hectare in order to ensure viability.
The long-term average is between
3,5 to 4,5 tons per hectare.
Hermann tells us that it
is interesting that, although
Sasolburg is approximately 50 km
from his farm as the crow flies,
the Sasolburg area receives approx
imately 200 mm more rain per
year due to a micro-climate being
created there. One thing his father
taught him is that when the wind
blows in such a direction that you
can smell Sasol, the chances of
rain are good.
Hermann says that the 2014
and 2016 droughts were a real set
back for them. He switched over
to precision farming for about
a year, but this has been on ice
for the past few years due to the
drought and the extensive input
it requires. But the passionate die-
hard will come to the fore when
they start the process from scratch
again.
He usually plants the same
quantity of all three crops, but he