| FARM CONTEXT | |
| Date of visit | 19 December 2023 |
| Area | Bruyns Hill, Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal |
| Soils | “The Best” |
| Rainfall | 1200ml annually |
| Altitude | Around 1000m |
| Temperature range | Temperate mist-belt climate (Lowest of 5/6°C | Highest 35°C) Ave lows of 12°C | Ave highs of 28°C |
| Varieties | 6,5ha Fuerte, 6ha Rintin, 1,5ha Pinkerton, 3ha Ryan, balance is Hass. |
| Hectares of Avos | 43ha |
| Diversification | Avos are actually the “other crop” here but, in our context JAFF’s family also farms timber, cattle, maize and chickens. |
We’re back with Part 2 of this story. Catch up on Part 1, where we covered Context, Challenges, Establishment, Nutrition and Orchard Maintenance here.
PESTS
“We don’t have a pest problem yet,” says JAFF, “but I know it’ll come – we will just try and delay it for as long as possible.” This means that the only spraying done here is copper which is done once on Hass and 4 to 5 times on Fuerte, all as per the label, “which is about 2400l per hectare, I think,” says JAFF, “We just got a new mist blower which means we can use even less because of the improved efficiency.” JAFF is glad to have progressed from the lance sprayer previously used on this farm – apparently they can dump as much as 4000l per hectare to achieve the same efficacy! The earthworms are grateful and slowly coming back.
The old spray rig was elusive but the paparazzi managed a few poor shots.
Thrips is not an issue currently although there is evidence of sucking bugs (shows as a pimple) but they haven’t tipped JAFF’s tolerance yet. They do scout ‘loosely’ while checking the orchards in general.
This poor avo-tjie is having a rough start to life.
JAFF greatest headaches come from slimier and furrier creatures …
Duiker nosh all the new leaves off young trees. JAFF sprays mammal repellant in the first year, focusing on the edge and corners of the orchards (about 30 trees in) as duikers are shy creatures you’ll rarely find in the middle of an open field.
Duiker damage – JAFF says bush buck will flatten the whole tree and are not nervous about being in the middle of the field.
Snails are a huge problem. When JAFF mentioned that, with his first plantings, at SAAGA meetings, no one else agreed but now, many farmers are saying it has become their number 1 pest. They devour leaves, stripping a tree in no time. JAFF has resorted to a couple localised pesticide sprays on the one-year-old trees.
Tussock Moth outbreaks happen every now and again. These eat leaves and fruit. The outbreaks have been very localised and JAFF’s been able to treat them directly. They spray a fungus on the moths and a neem product on locusts which breaks down the hard shell of insects.
This Chafer beetle has been enjoying the new growth on these baby trees. JAFF will monitor this situation and may be forced to spray if the beetles get too aggressive.
JAFF is a bird enthusiast (something I plan to be when I grow up) and shares that there are some unusual residents on this farm. It’s because of this awareness that he can confidently say that the ‘scruffy edges’ and the subsequent increased insect life has had a lot to do with the number and species of birds in the ecosystem.
The farm has African Crake (pictured above), Swee Waxbills, Terrestrial Bulbuls, White-bellied Sunbirds and Alpine Swifts which are all unusual for the area.
JAFF has seen this rare sighting a few times at the dam – Half-collared King Fisher – which is unusual as “it’s usually closer to the ‘berg,” says JAFF.
Lanner Falcon surveying the menu (right) and then flying low over the new orchards (left) towards a pied crow.
The ants’ nest we spotted above the trees doesn’t worry JAFF at all; “they’ll strip that branch of leaves, and I’m fine with that,” he says, “I’ve actually heard that the ants eat nymphs of certain harmful bugs so I’m happy to have them in the canopy.”
There’s also a large Mongoose who does what he can to control the farm’s mole issue.
IRRIGATION
“You HAVE to have water for avos,” says JAFF, “I don’t think you can dry land farm them profitably. But I’m going to try anyway” Wait, what? JAFF clarifies; “We’ve lost a lot of new trees in the 2-3 weeks when there’s no rain, in January, so, although the rainfall is high here, there are dangerous dry spells. “And,” continues JAFF, “this exercise will look good in the export audit.” Apparently the audit ‘smiles’ upon lower impact methodologies like dryland farming. Lower quality fruit can always be offloaded into the local market so JAFF isn’t risking much in giving the dry option a go.
They’re gradually moving from micros to drip irrigation so that they can economise on water usage and plant a greater area. The drippers are placed 750 mm apart and, yes, their coverage is not as broad as micro-irrigation. JAFF confirmed this by running the irrigation for 4 hours and then digging up the area … each “onion” of wet soil was 550 mm across, which left 200mm of dry soil in between each dripper.
Physics dictates that it doesn’t matter how long you leave the taps open, the area between the ‘onions’ will never get water.
Because of these characteristics, JAFF would prefer not to use drip in a sparsely planted orchard, “It works better in dense situations,” he shares, “In the new orchards, where the trees are far apart and the roots haven’t developed, we use ‘needles/spiders’ to take the water to the plant.”
Irrigation in most mature orchards runs at a rate of 0,9l/hour for 6 hours per week depending on rainfall and season.
A neighbouring farmer, whom JAFF admires and listens closely to, has kept stats going back 30 years and has seen that the best results have always been in years when there was winter rain. Although this is a plus point for irrigation, his point is that nothing beats a good winter storm.
JAFF has probes that allow him to monitor moisture levels; he prefers to operate on the cusp of the red, irrigating only when necessary.
The windy environment on this farm is another deterrent to using micro-irrigation, especially on the small trees as the wind can blow the water off the tree and into the interrow.
JAFF concludes this discussion by advising that farmers do regular water samples, “So you know what’s in your water, not only for the plant nutrition but also for system maintenance.”
One of two dams on the farm.
POLLINATION
JAFF’s walked a journey in this facet of avo farming and has come to a few conclusions:
- Bee-food cover crops don’t really last more than one season as they don’t seem to re-seed. Based on this, he’s decided not to spend money on them but to rather let nature decide what grows well in the environment.
- Bees are not the main pollinators on this farm – flies are; house flies, hobbit flies, crane flies. “We have such cool sh#t here,” says JAFF. Yes – there’s a pun in there (the chicken farming attracts all sorts) but he’s also dead serious about loving the diversity of insects, even if they are known to some as the ‘despised’ fly!
- He’s not convinced about whether cross pollination impacts yield, “The older orchards are planted 3 rows Hass one row Fuerte and we do get best t/ha from them but that might be because they’re the oldest trees.”
Pink clover (part of original bee mix).
Hass & Fuerte interplanted.
CULTIVARS
JAFF has 6,5ha Fuerte, 6ha Rinton, 1,5ha Pinkerton, 3ha Ryan, and the balance is Hass. He’s chosen these cultivars based on a strategy of supplying various markets at the best time (for price), making sure at least half the farm is growing for export (Hass & Rinton). “Yes,” he clarifies when I point out that Rinton is a green skin, “But it’s a ‘tough’ green skin.”
The packhouse you supply will tell you what they need when; but this is the general flow:
- Pinkerton comes in first, June – July,
- Then they move into some green skin depending on local prices,
- But usually the Hass will follow the Pinkerton – all into export.
- Then they go back to the local market with Fuerte in Sept/October
- And then Rinton
- And then they’ll get some Ryan for the late market (Can pick this even into Jan). Lamb Hass is another late variety that could fill this window. But local guys have had bad results with Lamb Hass in this area – they suddenly split – JAFF is not sure whether it is an oil or moisture content issue.
He has to decided to consolidate with what he has for now as there’s just too much going on.
In terms of root stocks, JAFF is not convinced that there’s much between Bounty, Duke 7 & Dusa. He was desperate for trees (let down by supplier) when he was planting and literally took anything that was on one of these, with no regrets so far.
Ryan bearing wood, about to be planted out.
Rinton – identifiable by its wavy-edged leaves.
JAFF’s old ladies (40-year-old Hass & Fuerte).
These trees are bigger than they look from this distance because they are spaced 10m x 12m – JAFF has been told that the old theory was to plant at 5×6 and then remove every second tree.
This valley gets frost so JAFF won’t replant here when these trees get too old because the young trees would struggle to make it past year 3. “Shows how much the climate has changed in just over 40 years,” smiles JAFF.
Inside an old Hass tree. Some branches have grown on to the floor and back up again. Because the spacing is so sparse, they can grow wide like this.
Pinkertons that deliver 13 to 14 tonnes of good fruit consistently. (Above and below)
HARVEST
The numbers attest to JAFF’s success; the 6-year average (since buying the farm) is 19t/ha including 2 hail storms that wiped the crop out so, discounting those, the yield would be around 25 t/ha. When JAFF bought, the average yield was 13t/ha.
The current numbers off the main cultivars are 13 t/ha off the Fuerte (the KZN average is 9t/ha). Off the 3-year-old Hass trees, he’s getting 8t/ha with a 75% pack out; the goal for next year is 16t/ha with a 60% pack out. The KZN average, for Hass, is 15t/ha.
The aim is an average of 25t/ha on most orchards (there will be different goals for new and old orchards which take other factors, like spacing, into account.) But the weather here has no regard for JAFF’s goals or estimates; at flowering stage, he had anticipated 25t/ha off an orchard but after a couple hot evenings in August (that turned most flowers brown) he’s had to revise that down to 15t/ha. Ever the optimist, he’s still happy with this as a light crop this year gives him no excuse for improvement the following year.
JAFF reminds me that pack out percentages also need to be kept in mind as that impacts the price … and generally, as t/ha go up, pack out percentage decreases because of wind and sun and hail. At 13 t/ha the previous farmer owners were getting 70-75% pack out. But now, at increased volumes, the pack out is closer to 50%.
Harvesters are expected to pick 25 x 17kg lugs per day; once the task is complete, they are free to leave; “It’s not a full day’s work,” says JAFF but he hasn’t managed to motivate them with incentives to carry on longer. For the higher fruit, they use a high picker with small bag on it.
As we walk through the orchards, assessing the load, hail damage from a couple nights before is evident.
The fruit hanging on the trees now, at this size above, will be harvested next year, in June/July/August. And they’ve only just finished picking here which means there’s always fruit on the trees. The young fruit hangs alongside the previous harvest for about 4-5 months which puts a lot of pressure on the tree.
JAFF says that sometimes the trees drop the damaged fruit, like the one pictured above. This is generally expected in January with Fuerte being a more prolific ‘dropper’ than Hass, in fact Fuerte can sometimes cause a panic with the amount that they drop. “And,” JAFF adds, “the wind is still coming which will also knock a lot of the fruit off although the bigger trees will manage better in the wind.”
Hail damage on young trees that survived the devastating 2020 hailstorm, the year they were planted (top left). Damage from a storm in Feb this year (2023) – top right and bottom pics.
JAFF spoke about girdling which is a technique employed to increase flowering … you cut the bark ¾ of the way around a branch – this stresses the top of that branch which stimulates a massive false flowering that can set more fruit – although JAFF hasn’t tried it he does suspect that the hail damage may have a similar effect. #findinggoodthings
Evidence of ‘stress cuts’ on the 30-year-old trees (3/4 way around)
DISTRIBUTION
JAFF believes that you should always have one eye fully focused on the markets; the other one can watch the farm. “After all, there’s no point growing anything if you can’t sell it profitably.”
He believes a Distribution strategy should include both export and local outlets. With the comparative strength of foreign currency, export is essential. The late window (to capitalise on the local market) is also closing. And none of the local packhouses will take your fruit unless you have an export certificate (Global Gap & CESA) anyway so he has to comply with the export requirements regardless.
Establishing your own pack house is somewhat prohibitive because of the costs involved. That being said, JAFF believes that the growing KZN market will soon demand more packhouses and is intrigued by the dynamic between packers and farmers – at the moment the power lies with the packers, “but that will change,” he says.
Choosing which packhouse to supply is primarily based on what cultivars they’re processing as you can’t mix cultivars in a container (they all have different ripening requirements; eg: you can’t put Rinton and Hass in same container).
MARKET OUTLOOK
I found JAFF’s views on the industry interesting; “The pressure on price has been a good thing,” he starts, “it forced some guys to pull back on planned expansions and tree orders; including me!” He justifies this by pointing out the benefits of a good industry consolidation; Lower supply = higher prices. And gives an example; the current expansion into the Cape might not be good for this farm because that will fill up the late window which often carries this farm through. But, there’s also been some relief in the form of new markets opening up; “Fruit can now go to Japan and China. India is close too.”
“There are so many guys doing avos who don’t know what they’re doing,” says JAFF, “including us! But at least we didn’t start with a massive area. We’ve done it slowly which I feel is the right way.”
Prosperity is a magnet and the industry has attracted a lot of scrap. 2022’s market collapse would have turned the magnet off and there will be casualties. JAFF’s concerns are for the cane farmers who moved over to avos, “A lot of us are getting a proper hiding,” he laughs, “the veggie and citrus farmers up north are used to fussy crops and don’t struggle as much as cane farmers. I’ve done okay I think but it’s only because I have listened to the older guys; the ones who have paid the school fees.”
JAFF is positive on the overall outlook for the Avo Industry, “The 2017 price was good. The 2018 price was good. The 2019 price was brilliant – but we had nothing to sell because of the hail. Looking forward though, I think those high price days are over.” After last season’s crash, he says the price moderation will continue but will be stabilised by the new markets opening up.
ADVICE
We’re drawing to an end but I can’t help feeling that this JAFF has lots more wisdom than I’ve managed to fully tap into so I ask for some overall advice … “Create a reputation for your farm so that you are known for good fruit,” begins JAFF, “Associate with a pack house that is known for its good fruit – and support this by being involved. Go to field days and host field days.” JAFF urges KZN farmers to open up and support each other through sharing and learning. He adds that being patient and observant will also give you an edge over ‘average’ farmers.
“Specialists are definitely the way to go when it comes to avos,” he continues, “and I don’t mean you always have to hire in; try to develop skills within your own team. I know it’s not easy on a small farm but stay conscious about refining crafts like pruning, orchard management, irrigation etc.”
A very proud Hass tree carrying a huge load. JAFF says the outside fruit will all end up in the bakkie trade because it will burn. At this point, he remembers a mistake he’s made and warns others: be careful not to fertilise only in Spring (this feeds the flowering which then gets so heavy) and neglect the summer fert because the tree needs the support to keep growing. Some Summer inputs will also help the tree to grow leaves that could cover some of the exposed fruit. This is an edge tree which makes it different to the rest of the orchard; it is sacrificial in some ways as it catches the wind but it also gets the most sun.
A view spanning 40 years; from the oldest orchards to the youngest – exciting to ponder how much has been learnt (and forgotten) about avo farming these past few decades.
I hate goodbyes so am going to deflect by setting a challenge; can anyone tell us what is happening here … why is the stem so red and swollen? Please send your answer to debbbie@tropicalbytes.co.za
Thank you JAFF for being incredible, in every way – your open, honest, self-sacrificial sharing is a gift to those around you. TropicalBytes is humbled to have learnt from you and to have been able to share the experience.
Until we meet again, God Bless.