SA FARMERS URGED TO MAINTAIN INFRUSTRUCTURE
SA FARMERS URGED TO MAINTAIN INFRUSTRUCTURE
South African farmers may lose millions of rands if they do not prioritize investing in the regular maintenance and cleaning of their infrastructure, such as silos, warns Gareth Lloyd-Jones, MD of Ecowize. He notes that local equipment maintenance still lags behind the productivity of farmers and that if they fail to recognize the risks, they could lose millions of rands. By implementing a regular regime of high-performance intervention, farmers can take better care of their infrastructure, improve the flow and storage capacity, and ultimately improve performance, resulting in a better return on investment or yield. Lloyd-Jones says that high-performance cleaning not only reduces contamination and eliminates blockages but also minimizes disruption to productivity by improving storage capabilities.
He stresses that farmers should be aware of the issues that arise from insufficient cleaning of their infrastructure, as silos are used to store a wide variety of materials from food products to chemicals and roofing. All of these products can build up residue and form blockages, leading to financial losses caused by infestation outbreaks and pathogen contamination associated with pest-bearing diseases such as salmonella.
Lloyd-Jones adds that it’s crucial to select professional cleaning services rather than cheap labor and unregistered cleaning products to maintain silos, as this puts both product and employees at risk. There are legislative guidelines that need to be followed, and the cleaning process of silos is extremely dangerous for anyone who has not been specially trained. In addition, farmers should keep a record of the situation inside silos and storage and assess if there is contamination or infestation to ensure credible hygiene standards of produce.
Lloyd-Jones believes that many farmers are not aware of the importance of cleaning infrastructures such as industrial silos, and that silos need to be cleaned out periodically depending on the products being stored. He emphasizes that high-performance cleaning provides a visually clean facility to aid in inspection for maintenance repair purposes, reduces microbial contamination, removes raw material residue build-up, mitigates the risk of pests, and removes unwanted foreign matter.
In conclusion, failure to pay serious attention to the cleaning process can be hugely detrimental to both employees and the ability of the farm to produce. Farmers need to invest in regular maintenance and cleaning of their infrastructure to improve storage capabilities and comply with legislative guidelines while avoiding financial losses and ensuring credible hygiene standards of produce.
