Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
- Technology, knowledgeable workers and high-yielding fields are the three top ingredients in the TW (Te Water) Group’s recipe for success.
- The overall score of the 2024 winning silage bale was 89,5, and the judges were particularly impressed with the silage’s compaction, preservation, stability once opened, and fermentation.
- Silage bales can be stored for longer, and given how expensive the ensiling process is, the TW Group and their partner, Exact Silage, have placed silage within the reach of producers who cannot afford to pay that much for equipment.
- Contrary to the usual practice of ensiling the harvests of lower quality fields, the TW Group’s silage division prefers to cultivate and ensile crops from their best yielding fields.
- What started out as a sheep farm has since branched out into a significant farming enterprise that cultivates cash crops on 6,400ha.
Technology, knowledgeable workers and high-yielding fields. These are the three top ingredients in the TW (Te Water) Group’s recipe for success and one of the reasons why Dewald te Water was crowned the overall winner of Plaas Media’s Santam Agriculture National Silage Competition in November last year.
Dewald is not a newcomer to the competition, having won the sorghum silage category twice before and securing a second place in the maize silage category. This is the first year he’s won the maize silage category, and it is the first time in the competition’s history that a silage bale came out tops as the overall winner. This bale is proof that the competition is succeeding in its aim, namely to boost silage production, the use of technology, and the quality of the silage produced.
According to Richardt Venter, the competition’s joint coordinator, the TW Group is a well-structured, diversified farming operation comprising several business divisions. “Dewald and his team take silage production very seriously, and they strive to produce only the best quality silage.”
The overall score of the 2024 winning silage bale was 89,5 and the judges were particularly impressed with the silage’s compaction, preservation, stability once opened, and fermentation. Other aspects that stood out were the high fibre content and starch levels, to name a few.
Read more about An expert take on the best silage crops.
Technology drives success
TW Group is a partner of Exact Silage, which bales and distributes silage countrywide. Exact Silage also distributes the Norwegian agricultural machinery manufacturer Orkel’s high-density balers in South Africa. However, technology is only as good as the person using it. While technology was not the only element that helped improve the quality of Dewald’s silage, he admits that it did streamline the process.
In fact, he is a big proponent of technology, believing new advances to be the reason for the silage industry’s excellent progress over the past decade. “Technology has made a huge difference,” says Dewald. “Years ago producers simply dug a hole, dumped the silage into it, compacted it, covered it with a sheet or soil, and left it to ferment. Then came silo bags which have been hugely successful in improving compaction and eliminating oxygen.”
Be that as it may, with high-density compaction equipment your efficiency and the chances of producing quality silage are greater, says Dewald.
As agricultural producers well know, the cost squeeze is forever tightening its grip and they are faced with more risks every day. In this regard, technology plays a big role in the TW Group’s endeavours, allowing them to expand their business opportunities. “Silage never used to be a tradeable commodity, but we saw an opportunity and decided to make our bales tradeable.”
Silage bales can be stored for longer, and given how expensive the ensiling process is, the TW Group and their partner, Exact Silage, have placed silage within the reach of producers who cannot afford to pay that much for equipment.
Quick decision making
Silage harvesters have improved considerably over the years. While busy cutting the crop, operators now have access to data such as the moisture content and nutritional value of the specific field and crop being harvested. This allows for immediate decision making, which in turn has a positive impact on the quality of the silage.
The speed at which crops are ensiled is also impressive – it takes just two hours from the time the crop is harvested to it being baled.
Dewald enjoys exploring the options that technology creates in terms of ensiling different crops. Thanks to the solid compaction they achieve with the equipment, his team now produces silage from soya beans. They’ve even ventured into baling sugarcane waste. “What you want to do is offer a service to as many producers as possible.”
However, technology-driven equipment is not the only thing the TW Group embraces. They conduct silage and other cultivar selection trails in conjunction with Pioneer in a bid to identify crops that can be cultivated more efficiently. Where applicable, classifications and soil analyses are incorporated into the final harvest maps, allowing for data comparison and corrective action. Sorghum and oats are cultivated in fields with lower potential.
Staff worth their salt
Not only is Dewald able to identify quality machinery – he also knows when a person is worth his or her salt. This was clear during a previous visit to the farm a year ago, when he was named Agricultural Writers SA’s Farmer of the Year.
The fact that his management team include a number of young men in their twenties did not go unnoticed. Their enthusiasm was evident during Agricultural Writers SA’s visit to Dewald’s farm near Trichardt. They passionately demonstrated how small adjustments can maximise the sealing of silage, squeezing out every millimetre of air in the process.
Venter also noted this during the silage competition judging process. “What is remarkable about Dewald and his team is that he employs excellent managers. They are truly indispensable.”
Top-quality soil
Contrary to the usual practice of ensiling the harvests of lower quality fields, the TW Group’s silage division prefers to cultivate and ensile crops from their best yielding fields. Dewald believes it makes perfect financial sense to ensile only high-quality maize, which is an excellent source of starch, protein, and roughage.
Maize, soya, oats and/or sorghum are baled on the same day it is harvested, using high-density balers. It is then wrapped tightly in plastic to minimise the risk of oxygen damaging the silage. It takes two hours for these balers to chop and compact the silage. Silage samples are collected regularly, and few deviations occur.
Dewald believes soya bean silage holds great promise and is on par with lucerne. “Soya bean silage production is new to us, but its quality – the protein is consistent at 20%, and it is highly digestible with good nutritional value – places it in the same league as a top-quality lucerne bale.” The price is therefore determined by the prevailing lucerne price.
The silage enterprise helps to hedge the company’s risk. The Mpumalanga Highveld is notorious for its midsummer droughts and the silage bales are an excellent alternative forage option. Dry conditions early in the season might affect silage quality, but its effect on the commercial commodities that are ‘traditionally’ marketed would not be as big. Dry conditions later in the season might potentially affect the commercial commodities, but its impact on the silage branch will be negligible.
The TW Group also operates a fertiliser division established in 2015 when Sasol’s fertiliser mixing division closed. However, they needed a partner for this venture and the agricultural business, TWK, stepped up to the plate. Today, each of the two businesses has a role to play: the TW Group is responsible for receiving, mixing, storing and shipping the fertiliser, while TWK procures the raw materials.
Seize the day!
Armed with a National Diploma in Animal Production, ambition and a good work ethic, the Te Water brothers, Billy and Dewald, started mapping their path a quarter of a century ago. “One morning Billy said to me: ‘Let’s farm together, but bigger.’ From then on, we seized every opportunity that came our way,” recalls Dewald. At that stage (in 1999), Billy managed their grandfather, Dr WF te Water’s livestock while Dewald worked on a dairy and crop farm near Kriel.
This was the beginning of a successful, diversified business consisting of a crop division (maize, soya beans, sorghum and oats), a Bovelder stud and commercial herd, the African Foods processing facility (which manufactures and markets popcorn, chips, and breakfast porridge), and their share in Exact Silage. This is complemented by contractor services the TW Group offers to the agricultural sector, two brick factories, and a company which rents out earthmoving machinery. The businesses are located near Trichardt and Bethal in Mpumalanga.
What started out as a sheep farm has since branched out into a significant farming enterprise that cultivates cash crops on 6 400ha. All the sorghum and oats, and roughly 250ha of maize, are ensiled. Commodities not destined for silage or the group’s food factory are sold. They have their own silos and add further value to their grain section with a popcorn enterprise and food factory in Bethal. – Susan Marais, Stockfarm
For more information, contact Dewald te Water on 082 388 0082 or dewald@twgroup.co.za.
