Questions to ask when you’re about to grow crops

By Craig Macaskill   Posted 2018-08-31   In Blog     @gsafarmerdev tweets on training by Johan Kriel from Grain SA. Workshops revolve around asking and answering some questions. The questions are practical and very worthy, and we reproduce them here: What? What is the crop you want to plant? Can it be grown successfully in your district? Do farmers still […]

Google searches and farm murders

By Craig Macaskill   Posted 2018-08-31   In Blog       We are working our way through the chapters of the Agri Handbook, doing a general check on links and updating information. This morning we picked up where we left off yesterday, the “Berries & exotic fruits” chapter. Subsequent to the 2011 edition we make only the occasional use of […]

Showing learners the way

By Craig Macaskill   Posted 2018-08-03   In Blog     The Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre newsletter contains news of an agricultural excursion for grade 12 learners from four schools: Iingcinga Zethu Secondary School, Skurweberg Sekondêr, Ceres Sekondêr and Wolseley Sekondêr. They were given a day’s practical demonstration of what studying agriculture involves.    Photo used courtesy of Hortgro and the Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre Visits to […]

Our strange planet and having all the time in the world

climate change in Africa

By Craig Macaskill   Posted 2018-08-02   In Blog     As someone who works from home, I occasionally help a friend’s teenagers with school assignments. Yesterday’s was a list of questions which included: (a) What impedes South Africa’s economic progress? and, (ii) What strategies would you recommend government adopt to encourage economic development? I sat up, of course. To […]