Bekker Group manages 450 ha of citrus and wheat with Farmable, South Africa
Janus de Klerk is Farm Manager at Bekker Group, a 450 ha operation in Marble Hall, Limpopo, South Africa, growing citrus (lemons, soft citrus, navels, and Valencias) alongside wheat, canola, maize, and soya. Before Farmable, managing spray records, delegating tasks, and preparing documentation for multiple certification audits required significant manual effort and the risk of data being captured late or not at all. Since Janus introduced Farmable in 2021, the group has expanded its use from spray record monitoring to managing nearly all farming operations across both farms, Wording Boerdery and Toitskraal Sitrus, including task planning, product inventory, and audit reporting.
Before Farmable
When Janus joined Bekker Group in 2021, spray records and farm tasks were managed without a dedicated digital system. The core problem wasn't just the volume of data, it was the duplication. Someone would do a job in the field, and then someone else would have to capture it again at a desk. For a farm running multiple crops across two properties and meeting Global GAP, SIZA, GRASP, and water usage audit requirements, that gap between doing and recording created real risk.
Janus had looked at other tools before settling on Farmable. His assessment was direct: other apps tend to be overly complicated, overwhelming users with too much data that often requires an advisor to manage on behalf of the farmer. He wanted something his whole team could use independently, not a system that created a new dependency.
The compliance burden was also a financial concern. The costs associated with meeting multiple certification requirements can become expensive, particularly given the variety of data points that need to be captured across spray records, product usage, and weather conditions. The question wasn't whether to record data, it was how to make recording it fast enough to be done by the people already doing the work.
How Bekker Group uses Farmable
Janus started with spray record monitoring, the original reason he searched for a farm management tool, and has progressively extended Farmable's use across the whole operation. The group now uses Farmable across all crops and has subscribed to Farmable Pro and the Product Inventory Management module.
Spray records and task management are the daily backbone. Janus uses Farmable to plan jobs in advance, assign them to the relevant team, and have workers record tasks at the moment they happen, eliminating the transcription step entirely. Reports for spray records and product usage are generated directly from the app and have been sufficient for all audit submissions.
Product inventory is tracked in real time, giving the management team visibility over what's on hand and what's been used, information that feeds directly into compliance reporting and procurement decisions.
Field mapping and security management is one of the more distinctive ways Bekker Group has extended the platform. Before each security shift, Janus maps patrol zones and marks key areas for the security team to cover. The app tracks their GPS routes and records shift hours, and staff log real-time reports on any issues directly in Farmable. Many of the security personnel had no prior experience with a system like this. Within three days, they were using it without support.
Results
About Bekker Group
Bekker Group comprises two farms, Wording Boerdery and Toitskraal Sitrus, centred in Marble Hall, Limpopo, South Africa. The operation spans approximately 450 ha of production, with citrus as the primary crop (lemons, soft citrus, navels, and Valencias, with the main season running April to September) and a rotation of cover crops including maize, soya, wheat, and canola. Francois Bekker took over the family farm in 2008, and the group holds Global GAP, SIZA, and GRASP certifications. They are members of Citrus Research International (CRI) and the Citrus Growers Association (CGA).
Compliance and record-keeping in South Africa
South African citrus farms exporting to international markets are typically required to hold Global GAP certification as a baseline, with additional standards including SIZA (Sustainability Initiative of South Africa), GRASP (GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice), and water usage audits depending on the buyer and market. Each certification requires documented records of spray applications, product usage, weather conditions, and worker welfare, data that must be accurate, timestamped, and available on demand for inspectors.
Farmable helps Bekker Group meet these requirements by capturing spray records, task logs, and product usage data at the point of work, not after the fact. Standardised reports are generated directly from the app and exported for audit submissions, removing the need for a separate data-entry step and reducing the risk of gaps in documentation during busy periods.
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