Kallie Fernhout, a viticulturist and Estate Manager of Delaire Graff Vineyards, a well-known international destination for wine, art and hospitality in the Stellenbosch valley, needed an effective technology solution to assist in managing this large, award-winning wine estate – and he found it in FarmTrack, a real time tracking device for farmers. Some of Fernhout’s responsibilities include managing the vineyards and sourcing grapes from outside farms for Delaire’s many delightful wines.
“We have so many vineyards, so it was important for us to find an effective GPS monitoring device like FarmTrack. We wanted to ensure that as many rows as possible would be sprayed, and it was essential that the accuracy of the calibrations were correct,” says Fernhout.
Having heard about FarmTrack from distributor, InteliGro, Delaire then started using the device on two tractors over two seasons. Fernhout was immediately able to monitor and manage spray accuracy of the vines as well as measure the speed of - and time spent in - spraying by each row and vineyard block. The results allow Delaire Graaff to have accurate farm management reports that help with planning, cost-saving, efficiency and of course properly sprayed crops.
FarmTrack is a great farm management tool that helps farmers monitor not only their vehicle efficiency, but also assists with fuel saving and optimum crop output.
“Our crop spraying efficiency on our farm has really increased, and because of this, so has the quality of our crop yield,” notes Fernhout.
”We are so happy with FarmTrack – and it is so user-friendly and of course the cost savings means that we will be continuing to use this system in the future. I wouldn’t be without it now,” says Fernhout, “and I unreservedly recommend FarmTrack to any wine farmer who seeks to improve their operations.”
For more information, please contact +27.21 880 1163 or visit www.farmtrack.co.za.