Experts

fruit

Fruit production: Why some trees and vines don’t bear frui...

  22nd June 2018

Farmers often find that some of their fruit trees bear poor quality fruit, or do not produce any fruit at all. Instead of removing these trees, farmers should rather determine the reasons for the poor performance. There can be many reasons why fruit trees or vines are not producing optimally….

piglet and sow health; sows; health

Pork production: Seasonal changes and the health of your pig...

  21st June 2018

Questions: Do seasonal changes play a role in the health status of pigs? The weather and the changing seasons can play an important role in the health status of pigs. They’re more sensitive to temperature than most kinds of livestock. Baby piglets – especially the modern white breeds that have…

28 000, poultry, chickens, vaccines; snick; house

Poultry production: The importance of cleaning your chicken ...

  21st June 2018

Question: Is it necessary to wash and sanitise a poultry house? Yes. In fact, it’s an important part of the production process to ensure that the house is correctly sanitised and rested before the next batch of chicks is placed. HOW TO Carrying out a good dry-clean and dusting off…

feed; strangles

Livestock production: What is strangles in your horses and h...

  19th June 2018

Sometimes horses become depressed and feverish. They develop swollen glands around the head that start oozing yellow liquid. This condition is called strangles. Strangles is one of the most important diseases in horses worldwide. It spreads easily from one horse to another and is caused by the bacteria Streptococcus equi….

tomato

Hydroponic farming: Shaping your tomato plants

  19th June 2018

There are a number of benefits to shaping tomato plants by pruning and trellising. Shaping tomato plants will enhance air circulation and ventilation, optimise space and sunlight, improve growth balance between roots, leaves and fruit, and make the most of your working space. PRUNING Pruning simply means the removal of…

meat; pastures; livestock

Livestock production: Spotting the first signs of disease

  18th June 2018

Observing your livestock’s general health costs nothing and you don’t need special equipment – but it can save your animals’ lives. It takes very good stockmanship to spot abnormal behaviour in your animals. Daily observation of normal behaviour and a step-by-step investigative approach if they do not behave as usual….

relationships

Marketing tips: Building relationships with fresh produce ex...

  18th June 2018

The relationships you build with your export agent and other key role-players become the oil that makes the exporting engine work smoothly. This is probably the most important part of exporting fresh produce. Your export agent is your key player, the person with whom you will have the most dealings…

flies; fever; swine; sows; piglets; records

Pork production: Keeping farm records for your piggery

  18th June 2018

Question: I’m serious about my pig farming operation, even though it’s small. I need to keep track of what’s happening on my farm so that I can work out costs and identify problems. Please give me some hints about how to keep records and the kind of things I should…