It’s been hot and dry in the Eastern Free State and on Sandstone and while good rains would do the wheat a world of good the land preparations carried out before planting has paid off and the moisture levels are holding up well. When the following photos were taken we had had no rain this season. 

An inspection hole was dug on one of the lands at the farm Hoekfontein to look at the moisture levels and the root development. This land was chisel ploughed twice and the photograph shows that the plant is well developed and the moisture levels are good. This land previously had eragrostis on it. With good rains the land should have a yield of around 4 tons.

The picture shows the excellent root development.

Rhys Rolfe standing in the same lands showing how healthy the plants are and the excellent plant density.

Peter Schmidt our chemical expert taking a closer look at the plant development. 

An interesting photo. As part of an experiment it was decided to plant some wheat overlapping a small land that had had Cosmos planted on it. There has been some discussion about the benefits of using plants with tap roots as a method of avoiding compaction and there was clear evidence that this in fact does work to a point but the drawback is that the Cosmos uses up most of the available moisture. This can be clearly seen in the photograph; on the right is the part of the land that had Cosmos on it.

Wheat after 7mm of rain.

A week or so later the farm received 7mm of rain and the difference in the growth can clearly be seen. The rain came when it was needed and has given the wheat a great boost and while it early days things are looking good as far as yields go. 

We are looking forward to the next rains.