The slow, sure road to sustainable wheat production

MG Lotter, who farms at De Vlei near Caledon in the Western Cape, has experimented in several ways over the years to improve wheat production sustainability. These have even included planting summer cover crops and the use of non-synthetic fertiliser. One of his latest experiments, however, has resulted in a complete re-evaluation of his 1 800ha production system.

Up to a few years ago, he used a winter crop rotation that included a long-term lucerne pasture cycle on all his lands. He then switched from this to a continuous winter crop rotation on the best two-thirds of his lands and permanent mixed medics-lucerne pastures on the remainder.

“The main idea was to reduce input costs and risk by not planting crops on the