Theo Doms explains how Saratoga Fruit Estate uses Farmtrack for efficient orchard management. скачать в хорошем качестве

Theo Doms explains how Saratoga Fruit Estate uses Farmtrack for efficient orchard management.

Saratoga produces a variety of premium quality citrus and stonefruit. Including: nectarines, peaches, plums, some soft citrus, nadorcotts, novas, and eureka lemons. We recently sat down with production manager Theo Doms, to chat about how they use agricultural technology to simplify orchard management on the farm. When asked what kind of things they monitor Theo he smiled and said: “Our farm is in production 12 months of the year, so we are constantly monitoring phenological stages of the trees, depending on what season it is. We are always monitoring irrigation needs, spraying needs and amongst others, pest control.” Because Saratoga is basically in production all year round, they are constantly irrigating, spraying and picking. Theo says there are numerous challenges that comes with working around the clock especially with spraying. “Different crops need different pesticides, and that is crucial to monitor consistently, in order to keep the data for comparisons from year to year.” Saratoga started using Farmtrack three years ago. The need for a holistic crop management tool arose from wanting to keep a closer eye on spraying, especially during nighttime. Mistakes can easily creep in at night but with Farmtrack it is easy monitor the activity from the web dashboard and pinpoint where something went wrong instead of guessing. “Now we know for sure what tractors were spraying, what time they were spraying and at what speeds they were spraying. From that perspective it is priceless.” “I would not want to continue without Farmtrack, we trust the technology and it has really helped us significantly.” Theo says one of his favourite features is the overtime monitor, specifically because they spray at night, they could get a handle on how much overtime is being accumulated by any individual driver and that feeds directly into their payment system as well. “Spray accuracy is also very important. There are no more skipping of rows now and when it does happen, we can quickly rectify it, in no time. Human error slips in and it is great to have a tool like Farmtrack that can really help you iron out this sort of human errors.” Subsequently Farmtrack has also had a positive impact on out sprayers performances and overall morale. For Saratoga Farmtrack has gone from a monitoring tool to an accuracy tool. “Sprayers know they are doing the right thing and they are driving at the right speeds and not missing any rows. FarmTrack makes sure everyone is doing the best they can to yield the best product.” Theo mentioned that with national and international competition increasing one needs to be at optimal performance on your farm, as it is crucial for survival. Agricultural technology like Farmtrack helps with this, giving your farm a competitive advantage. It’s good to see that tech companies are paying attention to agriculture. “Every farm needs to decide for themselves what they need, what will help them improve, and what is cost effective for them and invest in that. I would recommend Farmtrack as an agricultural tool, I look forward to seeing what Farmtrack includes in their services in the coming years. I wouldn’t want to farm without it.” For more information about Farmtrack’s crop management system, contact us at 021 880 1163 or visit our website at farmtrack.co.za