KO L L IG
•••
ASHLEY AND JACKY WHITFIELD
to the climatic conditions and
natural resources available
to South African farmers.
“He’s absolutely right,” says
Ashley. “We’re farming in
the desert here compared
to the rest of the world.”
So how do you manage to
remain profitable and still bring
home the bacon I ask. “We do
precision farming. 12 years of
yield mapping has enabled us
to keep yield records using SMS
Advance technology. We stay on
the cutting edge of the precision
farming game with variable
rating pre-plant fertiliser, seed,
plant mixtures and side dressings.
We’re at a juncture now where
there is a lot of information
available. Companies like Omnia
are growing together with the
farmer and are assisting us by
coming up with practical models
using this information. We need
applications now which will
filter all of this information and
make sense out of it to provide
real time solutions to particular
challenges on the land.”
Ashley is talking to me while,
firing up a second computer next
to the Mac. “Look, he points
to a thermal image portrayal of
a section of his land. “You see
how the different hues of colour
reflect the condition of the land?
And this was last year’s... See?
We are able to see the trends
taking shape and we are able to
counter any negative trends.”
Just as what he is saying
begins to make sense to me, he
flips back to the big Mac screen.
“Look here,” he commands.
I see him operating his Mac
as expertly as he would his
Gyrocopter (more about
KELLY DIAMOND
HARROW IN ACTION
SENWES Scenario • June/July 2015
13