AgriBulletin_130301

Februarie 2013

LANGS DIE OEVERBOEREDAG 2013

21 & 22March 2013

Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) commer-cial vehicles is the proud title sponsor of the 2013 Langs Die Oever Boere-dag! Having established sustainable business partnerships within the agricultural sector, MBSA appreciates support from

farmers. Mr Kobus van Zyl, vice president of com-mercial vehicles at MBSA says: “Mercedes-Benz South Africa has a vested interest in farming. Food security in our country, as well as the economy depends on a healthy and vibrant agricultural sec-tor, which in turn is de-pendent on viable trans-port solutions.”

Mercedes-Benz trucks will display the full range of its products at the show. Vehicles on display will include models from the mighty Actros, Axor and Atego models. MB trucks featuring the inter-nationally proven Euro 5 engine with the emission reducing technology Blu-eTEC are a prime example of modern diesel technol-ogy — clean and e� cient. Several local operators seeking a solution for greener transportation are operating with MB BlueTEC models.

Mercedes-Benz trucks continue a long-estab-lished legacy of trucks that bring unprecedented comfort and functionality to distribution opera-tions, including the agri-cultural sector.

The trucks will be com-plemented by Mercedes-

Benz’s trio of SUVs, the G-Glass, GL-Class and M-Class. The iconic Mer-cedes-Benz G-Class will be making an appear-ance at the show. It o� ers state-of-the-art, powerful engines and a range of luxurious appointments and the very latest safety features, as well as leg-endary o� -road capabili-ties.

The Mercedes-Benz GL is a luxury SUV with a strong standing within the premium luxury seg-ment will be a major at-traction. O� -roading in natural environments, are typical activities that farmers owning a GL rel-ish.

Completing the trio will be the M-Class known for its dynamism, re� nement and e� ciency. It o� ers the most extensive safety equipment in its seg-ment, and as a result, it is

one of the safest full-size SUV’s.

The undisputed show-stopper will be the leg-endary Mercedes-Benz Unimog! The well re-nowned navigator of hos-tile terrain o� ers top o� -road performance and its extreme manoeuvrability makes it possible to go virtually anywhere. The Unimog’s versatility gives it the edge and there are not many, if any, other vehicles that are more suited for rescue missions and � re � ghting amongst many applications.

MBSA’s one-stop-shop value chain o� ering o� ers a peace of mind transport solution. Van Zyl adds: “We o� er competitive � -nance, a comprehensive dealer network, a wide range of products within the value chain that in-cludes CharterWay, Fleet-Board and TruckStore.”

Maart 20132

MBSA sponsors Langs Die Oever

Langs Die Oever Boeredag will be held on Mr Kallies Eras-mus’ farm on 21 & 22 March near Die Eiland

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It appears as if 2013 is heading to be the darkest year in terms of farm attacks and farm mur-ders since 2005.During January eight people died in seventeen attacks on farms. According to TAUSA’s statistics most incidents oc-curred in Gauteng. Five people were murdered in eight attacks in the province. The unenviable second place is held by the Free State, where three people died in six attacks, two attacks oc-curred in Mpumalanga and one in Natal.These � gures indicate a drastic increase compared to January 2012, when � ve people were murdered in eleven attacks. Eventually during the whole of last year 51 people died in 141 attacks.If the tendency from January 2012, as it eventually realized at the end of that year, should be applied to 2013, based on the January � gures, 82 people could be murdered in 218 at-tacks on farms this year, warns Mr Henry Geldenhuys, Deputy President of TAUSA and Chair-man of the Union’s safety and security committee. “It would be the highest rate since 2005, when 115 people were killed on farms.“TAUSA is therefore not in vain

concerned about farm attacks. In the light thereof it remains inconceivable that the minister of police and the commissioner of police have still not replied to TAUSA’s urgent request for discussions about this mat-ter a year ago. The last time something was heard from the minister was a   public tirade against during a press confer-ence, but during which he still gave no indication of what he plans to do about this unac-ceptable state of a� airs,” said Geldenhuys.“TAU SA’s members want to be part of the solution to this problem. There are many sug-gestions that we would like to discuss with the minister in order to o� er our help, but then he should grasp the op-portunity for such discussions with both hands, instead of ignoring us or discrediting us in the media.“With the information of the current trend at our disposal, farmers are warned to reassess their security measures very ur-gently. That should also include the evaluation of the reliability of employees, especially where labour unrest is a potential problem and where farmers have already su� ered severe damages,” said Geldenhuys.

2013 the darkest year since 2005?

Farm Murders

Retha Nel Agri Letaba en die jaarlikse Letaba Expo het pas ‘n nuwe sekretaresse, me Naomi Roux, verwelkom.

Sy kom oorspronklik van Stilfontein en het na skool Toerismebestuur aan die Vaal Universiteit van Tegnologie gestudeer.

Met haar uiteenlopende werksondervinding is sy ‘n aanwins vir die organisasie. Sy het sewe jaar ervaring in toerismebestuur as bestuurder van ‘n gesiene hotel se ontvangs (front o� ce manager) in Engeland. Sy het daarna by die ATKV Klein Kariba gewerk en was vir vier jaar deel van ‘n konferensie- en spanboumaatskappy. Daarna het sy en haar kêrel vir ‘n jaar in Suid-Amerika getoer en Engelse klasse aangebied.

Hulle het ‘n paar maande terug na Tzaneen verhuis omdat haar kêrel, mnr James Excell, ‘n werk hier gekry het. Hy is betrokke by sportontwikkeling by skole in Nkowankowa, waar meer e� ektiewe sportprogramme vir skole ontwikkel word.

Roux wil saam met die gemeenskap werk en ‘n goeie bydrae lewer om ‘n uitstekende Letaba Expo aan te bied. Haar visie is dat die geleentheid elke jaar groter en beter sal wees. Sy wil meer plaaslike produkte op die skou sien en die landbou-sektor meer betrokke kry.

Maart 2013 3

LiN Media/Kruger2CanyonLast year between April and May only three Bactrocera invadens � ies, better known as Asian fruit � ies, were caught in traps in the Hoedspruit area and several farms were quarantined. This year, multi-ple � ies have already been caught in traps on at least nine farms in the area.

“This exotic � y a� ects at least 72 di� erent vegetable and fruit crops. Its production potential is to double its population every six days. This is why we are not wait-ing for government to supply the necessary pesticides but are in-stead clubbing together to tackle the problem before it escalates,” says Mr Tom van der Meulen, a lo-cal entomologist and gyrocopter pilot who is spraying the entire Hoedspruit area, including gar-dens in Hoedspruit town, with the necessary pesticides.

“Don’t worry, we are not poison-ing people or animals! Both pesti-cides used are species speci� c and don’t even kills rats,” says Van der Meulen.

He is using GF120 to spray gar-

dens and mangoes. The natu-rally derived active ingredient, spinosat, makes up 99,76% of the product and is less poison-ous than table salt, accord-ing to him. He uses Hymlure mixed with a Marmite-like bait to spray citrus in the area. The active ingredient in Hymlure is a protein called hydrolysate. No citrus that will be harvest-ed in 28 days’ time is being sprayed.

The aerial pesticide spray kills o� the female � ies while 30 000 ‘mat blocks’ will take care of the males. Four ‘mat blocks’ will be

placed on each listed hectare in the Hoedspruit area.

For more info, contact Jaco Fi-vas on 071 296 2784. Jaco heads up the organising committee for Bactrocera invadens.

Naomi Roux

Agri Letaba het ‘n nuwe sekretaresse

Proactive “quarantine”

Van der Meulen shows the Marmite-like consistency of the bait mixed with pes-ticide, used to eradicate Bactrocera in-

vadens in the Hoedspruit area.

Van der Meulen is seen preparing for take-o� to do another round of aerial crop spraying with his gyrocopter.

Although no farms in the area have been quarantined yet, Hoedspruit farmers have decided to stand together and act on the Asian fruit � y danger before this pesky � y wreaks havoc again.

Maart 20134

E� ek op die verbruikerDie e� ek sal waarskynklik eerste op die pryse van wintergroente waargeneem word.

Dis kontantgewasse met ‘n kort siklus en die e� ek van voorsieningstekorte weens die besluit om sekere gewasse nie aan te plant nie word vinnig deur die verbruiker gevoel. Mettertyd behoort die aanbod weer te stabilisee,r namate produkpryse verhoog. Produsente sal weer begin plant as die verhoogde produkprys vergoed vir die verhoogde arbeidskoste om die ge-was te produseer.

Hierdie konsertina e� ek van tekorte op aanbod en aanvraag sal voortduur, totdat daar weer balans tussen produkprys en produksiekoste kom. Iemand moet die verhoogde produksiekoste � nansier en ongelukkig is dit die verbruiker — dus kos gaan baie duurder word!

Regering se motieweDie motiewe is redelik duister vir die on-ingeligte, maar as mens mooi kyk skemer daar ‘n paar dinge deur.

Waarom ‘n klein gemeenskap binne ‘n sub-streek uitsonder vir swak betal-ing, terwyl die lone binne die raamwerk van wetgewing betaal word? Waarom boerderye uitsonder wat nie werklik deel is van georganiseerde landbou nie?

Waarom verskyn die minister van landbou midde-in die onrus en spreek SA se boere aan om hul werkers hoër lone te betaal? Waarom word kospakkies aan stakende werkers uitgedeel, aangekoop met belas-tinggeld? Watter instansies het die ver-moë om onrus op so ‘n skaal te � nansier?

Daar is ongelukkig net een wat ant-woorde kan verskaf op al dié vrae, naam-lik die regering van die dag! Dis duidelik ‘n poging om stemme te wen vir die komende verkiesing, terwyl interne verdeeldheid die regerende party se steun begin erodeer. Dit ondersteun die doel-witte van die Groenskrif op Herverdeling van Grond deurdat dit boere letterlik eko-nomies van hul grond af probeer dwing.

Die oproer probeer boere uitbeeld as uitbuiters van gekleurde werkers terwyl die hele grondeiseproses weer van voor af oopgestel word. Dit skep die klimaat

vir die regverdiging van grondroof, soos die ANC-regering dit tans in wetgewing probeer vaslê.

Die boere staan tussen die regering en sy doelwit om alle grond te nasionaliseer. Voedselsekerheid is skynbaar nie belan-grik nie. Dit is grotendeels ondergeskik aan die magsug van die huidige poli-tieke beste,l wat grond wil gebruik om sy ondersteuners te beloon (presies soos Zimbabwe dit gedoen het).

Met hierdie loonsverhoging demon-streer die regerende party weereens sy minagting vir die vryemarkstelsel en sy traak-my-nie-agtigheid vir die gevolge van sulke ondeurdagte besluitneming op die res van die bevolking.

Dis vir hom maar net nog ‘n stap na die voltooiing van die rewolusie met die Vry-heidsmanifes as enigste handleiding, sê Ho� man.

Hiermee ‘n rowwe berekening in ‘n poging om te illustreer hoe ‘n klein boerdery � nansieel geraak sal word:

Loonverhogings:Só lyk die werklike impakDie Voorsitter van TLUSA Noord, mnr Stephen Ho� man, het moeite ge-

doen om boere se penarie vir lesers (voedselverbruikers) met die werklike impak van die minimum loonaanpassing te probeer verduidelik , asook om die twyfelagtige werkwyse van die regering te probeer uitwys.

Daaglikse / Maandelikse / Jaarlikse impak

Direkte uitwerking op die boer/produsentLone word met 51,32% eenmalig verhoog.

Arbeid maak tans tipies 30% van ‘n boerdery se kost-estruktuur uit. ‘n Redelik breë veralgemening im-pliseer dan dat die totale jaarlikse koste van ‘n klein eenheid R14 736 x 10/3 x 12 = R589 440 sal wees. Die verhoging in koste weens die nuwe loon sal 12 x R7 537 = R90 444, oftewel 15% van totale koste beloop. Die e� ek hiervan is gelykstaande aan of groter as die winsmarge van die meeste boerderye!

Dit het die potensiaal om landbou te vernietig. Boere wat dié krisis gaan deursien is die wat sukses-volle aanpassings kan maak om arbeidsgetalle te verminder, en meer meganisasie in hul boerderye in te stel. Geen ondernemer dra die volle risiko vir � nan-siering, bestuur en bemarking en deel dan sy totale wins aan sy werksmag uit nie!

Ons sal met ander oë na ons arbeidsmag moet be-gin kyk. In plaas daarvan om hierdie hoë loon aan ongeletterde arbeid met lae produktiwiteit te besteer, raak dit tyd om die aanwending van Afrikaanse jeug-diges uit plakkerskampe in Pretoria te oorweeg. Oor-deelkundige selektering en opleiding mag deure oopmaak vir ‘n nuwe formaat arbeidsmag wat die meganisasie op ons plase sal aanvul, met baie beter produktiwiteit as dit waarmee ons tans moet klaar-kom.

In die korttermyn wag daar ‘n moeilike en onseker tyd op boere, maar vir diegene wat kan vasbyt en deurdruk sal die son weer skyn.

Klein Boerdery met 10 arbeidersHuidige lone | R69.39 per dag Nuwe lone | R105 per dag

Huidige LonePer dag

x 10 arbeiders

Huidige LonePer maand

x 10 arbeiders

Nuwe lonePer maand

x 10 arbeiders

Huidige LoneJaarliks

Nuwe loneJaarliks

Jaarlikse Verskil

R 693.90 R 14 736 R 22 300 R 176 832 R 267 600 -R 90 768

Medium Boerdery met 20 arbeidersHuidige lone | R69.39 per dag Nuwe lone | R105 per dag

Huidige LonePer dag

x 20 arbeiders

Huidige LonePer maand

x 20 arbeiders

Nuwe lonePer maand

x 20 arbeiders

Huidige LoneJaarliks

Nuwe loneJaarliks

Jaarlikse Verskil

R 1 387.80 R 29 472 R 44 600 R 353 664 R 535 200 -R 181 536

Groot Boerdery met 100 arbeidersHuidige lone | R69.39 per dag Nuwe lone | R105 per dag

Huidige LonePer dag

x 100 arbeiders

Huidige LonePer maand

x 100 arbeiders

Nuwe lonePer maand

x 100 arbeiders

Huidige LoneJaarliks

Nuwe loneJaarliks

Jaarlikse Verskil

R 6 939.00 R 147 360 R 223 000 R 1 768 320 R 2 676 000 -R 907 680

Maart 2013 5

RethaNelDie jaarlikse Letaba Expo, wat volgens tradisie net voor en oor die eerste naweek in Augustus in Tzaneen gehou word, beloof om vanjaar iets besonders te wees. Met me Corrie Labuschagne aan die stuur van sake en die splinter-nuwe AgriLetaba-sekretaresse, me Naomi Roux as haar regter-hand, gaan daar heelwat ve-randerings wees.

Daar is planne om die Don-derdag, die openingsdag, ‘n optog van boere deur die dorp te hou. AgriLetaba en die ex-po-komitee gaan probeer om soveel moontlik trekkers en sleepwaens en plaastoerusting bymekaar te kry, vir die optog.

Die expo word deur Agri-Letaba beskou as die landbou se vertoonvenster aan die ge-meenskap en hulle wil graag die boere in die gemeenskap meer betrokke kry.

Daar gaan vanjaar nie weer

‘n boeredag op die Woensdag voor die openingsdag gehou word nie. Bywoning het die af-gelope paar jaar skerp gedaal en daar is besluit om die boere-dag se aktiwiteite met die res van die skou te integreer. Die potjiekoskompetisie word vir Donderdag beplan, maar daar word nog besluit of dit, soos in die verlede, slegs vir boer-everenigings gaan wees en of ‘n paar besighede in die Agri-sektor ook genooi gaan word.

Benewens die potjiekoskom-petisie het Agri Letaba ook elke jaar ‘n kraampie naby die verste ingangshek.

Boereverenigings maak beurte om die stalletjie te be-hartig en landbouprodukte van die omgewing aan die ge-meenskap bekend te stel.

Die Tzaneen Boereverenig-ing is weer, nes verlede jaar, aan die beurt en sal sorg dat daar hope vrugte en groente te koop is.

Vuur en vlam vir Letaba Expo

The Limpopo department of agriculture (LDA) partnering with the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC) and the University of Limpopo (UL) is again inviting potential cattle farmers to ap-ply and be empowered with this unique programme that started way back in 2006.

The objective of the Trust is to upgrade cattle farming in the rural areas of Limpopo through the reintroduction of the indig-enous Nguni cattle bloodline, and the creation of a community of emerging beef production farmers.

Since its introduction in 2006, more than 44 projects have bene� ted and about 1 500 Nguni cattle have been loaned out to farmers. The head count has so far grown to about 8 500 and the farmers have made not less than R2 million in pro� ts.

Eligible farmers who will be lent cattle for a period of � ve years should at the end of the period return the same or an equivalent amount of money. These should be those who:• Are interested in farming, especially Nguni cattle breeding• Own a farm suitable and equipped for cattle farming or have

long term lease in state owned farms.• Display entrepreneurial abilities and cattle management

skills.Unfortunately communal farming is not eligible, but the de-

partment is negotiating with traditional leaders that they o� er to potential farmers, long leases on their land, especially in a cooperative format, so that ‘our’ people could be empowered. Eli-gible applicants should have a valid SA ID, proof of farm owner-ship or lease, short description of the farm and utilisation history and their brief CV. Applications should be directed to the Chair-person; Limpopo IDC-Nguni Cattle Development Trust, University of Limpopo (Tur� oop Campus).

For more information:Mr Kenny Mathivha 082 450 1331 or 015 2943190

Limpopo-IDC / Nguni cattle development

project expands

Martina JegeThe deputy minister of rural development and

land reform, Mr Lechesa Tsenoli, hosted mayors and traditional leaders of the Mopani district at Fairview lodge, to tackle issues of land reform and community development in the district. The Limpopo MEC of agriculture, Mr Jacob Marule, and members of the Limpopo legislature portfolio committees also formed part of the meeting. Also attending the meeting were the Greater Giyani Municipality mayor Mr Pat Hlongwane, GTM mayor Ms Dikeledi Mmetle, Moruleng Municipality mayor Mr Pule Mafologele and the deputy minister of rural development and land reform, Mr Lechesa Tsenoli.

Sustainability of land claims

Orlando ChaukeCattle farmers of Muyexe outside Giyani are keen to increase their num-ber of cattle after the Limpopo department of agriculture had teamed up with Agricultural Re-search Council (ARC) and embarked on a proj-ect called Assistance Re-production Technology.

The project aimed at boosting the poor reproduction of calves among the cattle in the communal areas, by means of inseminating

Nguni sperms. This would ensure that the cows produce bulls with genes that are said to be more tolerant to draught and faster in reproduction.

Prof Lucky Nedambale, the programme manager from the ARC, said the initiative will also help in the case of stock theft, since they were also pro� ling DNA samples of the cattle which would be stored according to the owner’s name and the village.

Maart 20136

Artificial insemination to help boost reproduction in rural cattle farming

Cattle waiting to be inseminated at Muyexe village

Hosi Muyexe [Ben Maluleke] and some of the cattle farmers (Mamay-ila Chavalala, Magezi Baloyi, Sara Baloyi and Hlengani Maluleke and at the back prof Lucky Nedambale from the ARC, dr Veronica Letsoalo (vet) and dr Khathutshelo Nephawe, the science manager from the depart-

ment of agriculture), are seen here at the insemination gathering.

Maart 2013 7

The fate of African elephants will be high on the agenda of the March meeting of CITES in Bangkok. It is expected that there will be strong di-visions between delegates who support sustained ivory trade and those who opt for a complete trade ban.

“We must break the dead-lock and � nd consensus, rather than division. There is cause for common ground in a new conservation para-digm that recognises that the current demand for ivory exceeds the possible supply of elephants, and that de-mand needs to be reduced if elephants are to survive,” says Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder and CEO of Save the Elephants, in SWARA, the magazine of the East African Wildlife Society. Meanwhile, the future of elephants in Africa is becoming bleaker

by the day — there are fewer elephants than in the heyday of elephant slaughtering in the 1970’s and 1980’s — and the demand is much higher. Record ivory prices in the Far East are fuelling poachers, organised crime and political instability right across the Af-rican elephant range.

“Over the past few years wildlife tra� cking has be-come more organised, more lucrative, more widespread, and more dangerous than ever before,” former US Sec-retary of State Hillary Clinton warned.

The situation has become an issue of both national and economic security for na-tions across Africa, she add-ed. CITES research reveals that the high levels of illegal killing in central Africa have spread to East Africa and the northern parts of southern

Africa. Only three large pop-ulations — Kruger in South Africa, Chobe in Botswana, and Etosha in Namibia —have remained unscathed.

With the central reserve of elephants gone, the rising demand for ivory can only be provided by poachers turn-ing to the remaining popu-lations in East and southern Africa. The deep south of southern Africa — Botswana, Namibia and South Africa it-self —has long escaped the poaching problem, thanks to the region’s relative wealth

and well-� nanced wild-life departments. Elephant populations here are still the most secure, but with ivory now an established com-modity for organised crime that may change and reports of substantial ivory poaching are beginning to come from Botswana. Most of the illegal ivory seized in large-scale shipments in the past three years originated in Kenya and Tanzania.

A worrying new trend is

the hacking of the geni-tals and nipples of slain el-ephants soon after death. It is ascribed to witchcraft or strange culinary tastes.

The twenty years after the 1989 ivory trade ban were accompanied by recovery of elephant populations, par-ticularly in East Africa. Thanks to the ban and widespread outrage in the media, ivory became unfashionable, and almost all the key popula-tions in the region recovered

from the excessive illegal kill-ing of the former epoch.

Fact is, the current level of killing is unsustainable. If it continues unchecked, most of Africa’s wild elephants will be lost.

Tanzania has withdrawn its proposal to sell its ivory, the only one that was on the table, for the March CITES conference.

That potential source of in-come for countries that des-perately need money for ele-phant conservation has been nipped in the bud. While Hamilton admits that “there is a need to explore how to deal with large stockpiles of ivory”, he says: ”They cannot be traded, and ideally should be destroyed, but new mon-ey must come to help those countries.”

CITES AGENDA:The fate of the African Eliphant

Gabon, which was home to Africa’s largest elephant population of 44 000, has lost 11 100 elephants since 2004, between 44% and 77% of the pres-ent population, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also in danger of losing its total elephant population.

Elephant populations are being deci-mated to the point that the survival of the species in Central Africa is now in question. “The situation is out of con-trol. We are witnessing the systematic slaughter of the world’s largest land mammal,” says Mr Bas Huijbregts, head of the Central African strand of WWF’s global campaign against illegal wildlife trade.

“Some reports lead the world to be-lieve that the ivory war has moved from the Central Africa region to other parts

of the continent. This is wrong. What has changed is that these criminals are now also attacking the better protected elephant herds in Eastern and Southern Africa.”

Fiona Maisels, a conservation scientist at WCS, who has been analyzing the survey data, said that the data pointed to a regional crisis.

“The (Gabon) Minkébé data are representative of trends across all re-maining forest elephant strongholds in the region, not to speak of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is believed to hold 7 000 to 10 000 elephants, or less than ten per cent of its population twenty years ago,” Gabon, Maisels explained, represents

only about 13% of the forests of Cen-tral Africa, but is home to over half of Africa’s forest elephants. The Minkébé National Park, in turn, is home to Ga-bon’s biggest elephant population and to probably the largest forest elephant population in Africa. At least until these data came out,” she said.

Over in in the Central African Republic (CAR)— which in the mid 1980’s held up to 80 000 elephants — poachers are taking advantage of the political instability to wipe out the country’s remaining elephants.

Although solutions to e� ectively ad-dress the poaching crisis in the region are varied, what can be concluded is clear: left unaddressed, Central Africa’s

elephants will follow the footstep of their western black and northern white rhinoceroses, both hunted to extinc-tion. “Governments in the region such as Cameroon, Chad and Gabon are recruiting more rangers and send their armies to � ght these poachers. But that is not enough,” Huijbregts says. Huij-bregts explained that to e� ectively put an end to the poaching crisis, countries in in East Asia would need to address their exploding demand for ivory, which is resulting in record prices.

“Unless the governments of the re-gion and demand countries treat this issue as an international emergency we cannot rule out that, in our lifetime, there will no longer be any viable el-ephant populations in Central Africa,” Huijbregts said.

It is estimated that as many as hundred elephants per day are being poached in Africa.In Tanzania alone, this � gute is estimated at 67 per day. A few examples of this renewed on-slaught on elephants are:

• In January last year, militia gunned down more than 300 elephants in a national park in Cameroon.

• In March 22 elephants in Garamba National Park, Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), were slaughtered in a single attack, probably from an Ugandan helicopter.

• In December last year, an

illegal shipment of six tons of poached ivory was seized in Malaysia.

• Over the last decade a na-tional park in Chad has lost 90% of its elephants. • Three adult elephants were killed in a study area in Kenya.

• Littered around the same valley were at least twenty more fresh carcasses. This well-monitored elephant popula-tion has su� ered higher levels of illegal killing in 2012 than in any other year on record.

The Central African threat

Maart 20138

Trimcut was founded in January 2009 by Mr Tommie Schoeman. They started small with just one Allcut type machine and has since grown into a competitive pruning company, with a � eet of vari-ous types of locally built and imported pruning machinery.

Trimcut has the TOL Inc. agency to distribute mechanical pruners as well as hand-pruning equipment, built and manufactured in Israel, in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their range of equip-ment will sort all pruning needs, from skirting, topping, hedging and hand-pruning.   Hand-pruning is done with hydraulically driven chainsaws and lop-pers from a pruning platform (which can also be used for picking).

“Trimcut has built up great experi-ence, working with large companies such as Farmsecure, Afrifresh, Groep 91 and Noordgrens.  We work far a� eld and have had contracts as far as Es-howe, Weenen, Ponddrift and Marble Hall.   We also sharpen and maintain saw and chipper blades,” says Schoe-man. Trimcut has sourced and is im-porting the best pruning equipment and practices in the world, from coun-tries such as California, Florida, Israel and Australia.  They can assist and ad-vise on pruning practices to minimize costs and maximize pro� ts.  

“It is ever so important to rejuvenate orchards for maximum yield and qual-ity”, says Schoeman.

Trimcut: a pruning leader