Deur Elise-Marie Steenkamp In Mei vanjaar het die hele span van Hortgro Science (Hugh Campbell, Wiehann Steyn, Matthew Addison en Marno van der Westhuizen) afgesak Langkloof toe. Tradisioneel besoek die span die Langkloof gewoonlik in Desember elke jaar wanneer die…
By Gerrit Rautenbach In January of this year, one of the biggest nightmares for any fruit farmer became a horrible reality in the Langkloof. Hail. Some farmers were fortunate, some less so and some got wrecked by the falling ice.…
Load shedding in January came at an extremely inconvenient time for deciduous fruit producers, with harvesting, packing and cold store operations currently reaching a seasonal peak. Hortgro’s executive director, Anton Rabe, says: “Farms and packhouses had to make adjustments such…
By Elise-Marie Steenkamp On 13 January 2021, the Langkloof in the Eastern Cape experienced a severe hail storm that damaged in the order of 1000 hectares of apple, pear and stone fruit orchards. These orchards account for 20% of the…
Competitive canoeing shaped Paul Lombard’s life. Literally and figuratively. But it all happened because of a drought. Gerrit Rautenbach explains. You can clearly see that Paul Lombard, proud manager director of Eve Brand, an apple and pear farm near Misgund…
The technical production story of the recent pome fruit season concluded with a fairly happy ending given plot twists such as extreme weather events, “reliable” cultivars underperforming, and a global pandemic that almost single-handedly disrupted the fruit value chain. Despite…
Die nuwe jaar het sleg begin in die Joubertina-distrik van die Langkloof met die afsterwe van Bokkie Kritzinger (49) van Tulpieskraal. Kritzinger, een van die leierboere in die streek, was vroeg in Januarie op pad na ‘n watergat op sy…
This year Mandela Day focused on, amongst other goals, education, and literacy. In line with this initiative, Hortgro’s Book Donation Project reached a milestone by donating 2 tons of books to schools in the Langkloof area. The book donation which…
The first Strydom settled in Krakeel River in the Langkloof in 1770. He had 10 sons and divided his piece of land into 10 sections – one for each son. Today, there are quite a lot of Strydom’s in Krakeel…
The Jobs Fund Project on track: The technical advisor took one look at the sad trees in front of him. “Remove the old wood from the trees,” he commanded. Ricardo du Preez did not question him. He realised that to…
Next Generation Series: When Robin Baldie was six years old his teacher asked him what he wanted to be one day. “Without hesitation, I wrote ‘farmer’,” the tall man with the broad smile remembers fondly. Most people might be mistaken…
The Jobs Fund (JF) project of the South African deciduous fruit industry is on track and progressing well in the Langkloof. The JF is the commercialisation of emerging growers and an initiative by the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber (DFDC). It…