00LOADING
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The Hex River Valley produces more table grapes for export than any other area in South Africa. The compliance load is non-negotiable — every spray application must end in the file, formatted exactly the way GLOBAL G.A.P. and PPECB ask. We run the contract spray work for Hex River farms on programme schedule, owner on site, GPS-recorded, and the PDF lands the same evening.
A truck of table grapes leaves De Doorns and goes to a container in Cape Town. From there it's three weeks to a buyer who has the right to reject the lot if the chemical residue, the spray records, or the cold-chain timestamps don't match. The contractor's coverage map and rate record are part of that paper trail. Get it wrong and a season's work loses its margin.
Programme herbicide and fungicide work on the vineyard floor and inter-row. Pre-harvest fruit fly cover spraying. Less baling demand than further down the valley — Hex River is a vineyard story almost end-to-end. When baling does come up, it's usually the small lucerne plots that fit between blocks.
Hex River is the closest service area to our Gordon's Bay base — 145 km up the N1, around an hour and forty-five minutes most days. The gorge funnels weather; we time runs to morning windows before the afternoon wind picks up off the mountains.
If your auditor has flagged spray records as a focus this year, talk to us before the programme starts. Calibration, GPS, owner-on-site, and the PDF — set up once at the start of the season, run cleanly through.
Pick up the phone. One call usually settles it.