🌍 Land and land preparation
Land decides most of your yield before a single seed goes in. This guide covers how to assess a block, what to agree in a lease, and how to prepare the seedbed for a summer or winter crop in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
- Best time to prepare
- Winter dry season (May–September), before the first rains
- Soil sampling depth
- 0–20 cm for topsoil, 20–40 cm where you rip
- Target pH
- 5.2–6.5 (CaCl₂) for maize, soya and tobacco
- Typical lease term
- 1 season for cropping land, 3–5 years for orchards or irrigation
Assess the block before you commit
Walk the land in the wet season if you can. Standing water, hard pans and heavy weed pressure cost more to correct than the rent you save.
- Dig three to five test pits and check for a hard pan or clay layer within 40 cm.
- Take soil samples per management block, not per farm — mixing blocks hides the problem area.
- Confirm the water source: borehole yield in litres per second, dam capacity, or river abstraction permit.
- Check the natural region or rainfall zone and match it to the crop you plan (Region II suits maize and tobacco; Region IV and V favour sorghum, millet and livestock).
- Look at access: an all-weather road matters more than a short distance when you are hauling a harvest.
Renting land safely
Most new farmers start on rented land. Put everything in writing and keep a copy of the title or offer letter of the person leasing to you.
- Name the exact hectares and block boundaries, with a sketch or GPS points attached.
- State who pays for electricity, borehole repairs, fencing and land preparation.
- Agree the rent per hectare per season, the payment dates, and what happens in a drought year.
- Agree access after harvest so you can remove your crop and equipment.
- For irrigation or orchards, insist on a term long enough to recover your investment.
Land preparation, step by step
Work down, not up: break the compaction first, then create the seedbed. Every extra pass costs diesel and destroys soil structure, so aim for the fewest passes that give you a level, weed-free bed.
- Clear and stump: remove stumps, roots and stones that would damage implements.
- Rip or subsoil 40–50 cm deep in dry soil to break the plough pan, spaced 1–1.5 m apart.
- Apply lime now if the soil test asks for it — lime needs three to six months and moisture to react.
- Plough or chisel to bury trash and weed seed, then disc once or twice to a fine, level bed.
- Consider minimum tillage or basins where diesel is tight and rainfall is marginal — they conserve moisture well.
- Mark out rows, contour ridges and waterways before planting, not after.
Protect the soil you paid for
Erosion is the fastest way to lose the value of a farm. Contours, cover and rotation cost little and hold your topsoil in place.
- Keep contour ridges and grassed waterways clear before every rainy season.
- Leave crop residue on the surface where you can instead of burning it.
- Rotate cereals with legumes — soya, groundnuts or sugar beans — to break disease and fix nitrogen.
- Record every operation per block so you can compare cost per hectare year on year.
Checklist
- Soil samples taken and results read per block
- Water source measured and permitted
- Lease signed with hectares, rent and responsibilities in writing
- Ripping and lime done in the dry season
- Contours and waterways cleared
- Cost per hectare recorded before planting
Keep your own farm records
Create a free FarmInvest account to record land, equipment, inputs, labour and harvest per block, and see your cost per hectare as the season runs.