John Deere South Africa recently hosted its first Sugar Cane Best Practice Seminar in Swaziland.

Participants from 22 countries attended the seminar, which consisted of formal presentations and field demonstrations. The field demonstrations included a 3520 Sugar Cane Harvester, 2254 Loader, and the in-field 6165J Tractor with the 3-meter-wide axle.

Guest speakers from John Deere and independent consulting companies from several countries around the globe provided the results of the latest research. The speakers from John Deere were Jeff Freyou and Mike Duplantis from John Deere Thibodaux, Dr. Marco Ripoli from Brazil, Graeme Jarvis (United States) and Nir Aloni (Israel) from John Deere Water, and Stephan Gouws (South Africa)from John Deere Financial. Other speakers were Dr. Charley Richard from the United States and Dr. Alan Garside from Australia.

John Deere South Africa is focusing on the sugar industry in Africa. With over 80 sugar mills on the continent, sugar remains one of the vital crops in the country. The seminar provided a means to gather the leaders in the African sugar industry and provide an opportunity for them to share best practices and to learn new ones from the presenters.