Highlands Cherry Farm

Highlands has 10 hectares of cherry orchards established since 2001. The orchard is on the farm Zoekop which covers 192 hectares. There are 50 hectares suitable for the establishment of cherry orchards.

The Dullstroom / Belfast area does not have extensive arable land, and this restricts the extent of the orchards.

To protect the cherries production from the rain in the harvesting season, the orchards are grown in Haygrove poly tunnels.

The following varieties are established at Highlands:

Bing; Lapins; Cashmere; Royal Dawn; Stella; Royal Lee and Mini Royal.

The cherries are established in deep Hutton and Avalon type soils, varying from more than 2 meters to 60cm in depth.  Drainage is good and the clay percentage varies from 16-25%.

The Dullstroom/Belfast area is 1800 to 2200 meters above sea level, and is situated on the 25 15 S to 25 30 S latitude.  Access Highlands from the N4 motorway connecting Johannesburg/Pretoria to Nelspruit and the Kruger National Park.  The distance to OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg) is 206km.