Sandstone Heritage Trust - News

HTN 176 - The record wheat harvest at Sandstone Estates this year meant that it was strictly all hands on deck

22nd January 2007

Heritage - News

It is all hands on deck

25th October 2007

Consistent excellent early summer rains mean that we have to beat the clock to get the lands ready for planting. The Sandstone Heritage Trust MP6 has the grunt to make a major contribution when called upon to do so.

Construction has commenced on the expansion of our central grain intake pit.

The big 2009/2010 harvest put huge pressure on our systems and we are currently expanding based on the lessons that we have learnt from that.

The Human footprint.

One of the key strategies at Sandstone Estates is to reduce the human footprint. This of course means the vehicle footprint in most cases.

Sandstone Estates practises Biological Farming methods. We encourage as little tillage as possible which can probably be best defined as Minimum Tillage in the conventional sense.

The land is deep worked with as much mulch as possible being left on the surface.

Ripping only takes place every 3-years and obviously in the year in which we rip there is greater disturbance to the surface. In most cases when planting the soil cannot be seen, which is the way it should be.

Click here for the full report (3mb - PDF)

Sandstone collects old signs, we collect new signs, and we also collect funny signs. The top sign, namely about Potholes, in on the farm road at Sandstone Estates in the Eastern Free State.

It is fairly appropriate at this time of the year with all the rain and all the potholes on so many roads.

There is a lot going on at Sandstone Estates at the moment. Our revenue generating engine is not Heritage but Agriculture. We have a 2,000 ha wheat crop which has been fortunate in receiving reasonably good rains and has really canopied. Wheat prices are poor but we are hoping that by harvest time in January 2010 things will have improved.