Senwes Scenario Augustus / September 2015 | Page 26

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MARLON ABRAHAMS

THE SENWES SEED DEPOTS IN ORKNEY AND
HARTSWATER ARE A VITAL LINK IN THE FARMING
INPUT VALUE CHAIN AND OVER MANY DECADES
ITS REPUTATION FOR PROCESSING THE BEST
SEED HAS BEEN FIRMLY ESTABLISHED AMONGST
PRODUCERS AND IN THE MARKET PLACE.

B

en Kleinhans has been
the manager of the seed
plant for the last eight years and
before that he was manager of
Grainlink Administration at the
Senwes Head Office. Scenario
visited the plant to get a better
understanding of the importance
of seed processing.
“We are a seed processing
plant, which means that seed
producing companies such as
Link Seed, Agricol and Sabbi

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will approach us to process
their seed. The seed is delivered
in bulk bags and, after having
entered into an agreement with
regard to what needs to be done
and at what price, we start the
process by categorising the seed
into different kernel classes, in
terms of size. Maize has up to
16 different kernel classes. We
also differentiate the classes by
means of different packaging and
colouring of the seeds.

Augustus/September 2015 • SENWES Scenario

TOP-3 CRITERIA
The three most important
characteristics which come into
play during processing are:
• Uniformity of the seed (in
terms of appearance)
• Moisture content (it varies,
depending on the crop, but
there are levels that may not
be exceeded)
• Germination ability (tests are
performed and some of the
seeds must attain a minimum
germination ability of 85%
while some seed companies
work on a 90% germination
ability)
The plant processes the following
seed:
• Maize (white and yellow)
• Soya beans
• Sorghum