Five years ago, the canola industry was excited about a harvest of more than 100 000 tonnes, but if conditions remain favourable, the 300 000 tonne notch could be exceeded this year.
By Amelia Genis, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbuweekblad
Zander Spammer, manager of Southern Oil Limited’s (Soill) agricultural resources, says the fields throughout the entire Western Cape are covered with another record harvest.
He says record plantings of this crop have been made this year and record yields can be expected. If all goes well until the end of the season, some farms can produce an average canola yield of 3 t/ha.
“In the eight years I’ve worked at Soill, this year is the first year we’ve had the right seed at the right time. It’s been a good season so far. We planted the right cultivars at the right time.”
Spammer claims the canola is very healthy and most overcame the slug damage.
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“Farmers had the opportunity to replant. It was so wet at planting time that they could easily just spread the seeds. The seed came up again.
“The previous years, when there was such a huge slug problem, it was too dry to replant.”
Due to the wetness of the planting season, farmers were also able to achieve effective weed control early in the season.
According to Spammer, it is not excessively wet this year, but very cold. “Canola wants more cold than rain.”
As for the dry parts in the east, the canola is still doing well because its roots are so deep. “It can cope with a little bit of drought.”
