ORION’S VIEW FARM

Saving Time and Centralizing
Operations with Tend

Location

Tsitsikamma, South Africa

Farm Type

Diversified, educational, regenerative

Farm Size

5.5 hectares

Tend User Since

2022

THE CHALLENGE

Before Tend, Orion’s View Farm juggled numerous spreadsheets to manage farm operations—a time-consuming task that often took longer than the farming itself.

With a commitment to teaching and expanding regenerative farming practices across South Africa, they needed a tool that could streamline farm management and support his mission to revive rural economies through agriculture.

WHY TEND?

Jacques turned to Tend to simplify farm management. With Tend, they can seamlessly manage crop planning, task assignments, and data tracking, which are crucial for their regenerative practices.

As a unified platform, Tend saves Orion’s View Farm considerable time, allowing them to focus more on on-the-ground farming and educational initiatives and less on paperwork.

Located in the scenic region of Tsitsikamma, South Africa, Orion's View Farm is a hub of sustainability, technology, and agricultural education. Founded by Jacques van Wyk, the farm is a dynamic space that skillfully combines vegetable cultivation, free-range poultry, and pig farming, all managed under innovative regenerative practices.

These methods are designed not only to restore and enrich the local ecosystem but also to serve as an exemplary model for local and regional farmers. As a teaching center, it aims to inspire and train the next generation of farmers in effective, sustainable agriculture techniques.

A Foundation in Regenerative Practices

Jacques’s approach to farming is grounded in sustainability, combining ecological stewardship with innovative management practices. By focusing on the health of his soil and minimizing external inputs, he has created a resilient farming system.

“If your soil is healthy, destructive organisms won’t flourish. It’s just a law of nature,” Jacques explained, underscoring the importance of building strong foundations for crop health and productivity.

This commitment extends to his efforts to educate aspiring farmers, ensuring they understand the principles of regenerative agriculture and the value of investing in tools like Tend to manage their operations efficiently.

Streamlined Farm Management

For Jacques, transitioning to Tend brought a significant shift in how he manages his farm’s operations. Previously, he relied on spreadsheets that were time-intensive to maintain and often prone to errors. Managing farm data in this way limited his ability to make informed decisions and took time away from farming and teaching. Tend resolved these challenges by providing a centralized platform that simplifies planning, record-keeping, and task management.

“Most of [farm management] is formatting spreadsheets so they can work for you. And if one little thing changes, it's just out the window,” Jacques said, highlighting the inefficiencies of his previous system.

With Tend, Jacques has a single, accessible tool for tracking everything from planting schedules to task assignments, enabling him to spend more time focusing on the farm itself. Tend’s task management feature allows Jacques to create a clear, structured workflow that keeps his team aligned and efficient.

“The Tasks are just excellent. You know this is what you have to do, that’s how much time you’re going to spend, who does what, and you just follow it from there. ”

- Jacques Van Wyk, Owner

The platform’s centralized data collection has also enabled Jacques to analyze trends over time, refine his growing practices, and optimize resource use. From sowing schedules to harvest reports, Tend ensures that Jacques has the information he needs at his fingertips to make data-driven decisions.

“Using Tend, I can plan better, demonstrate the impact of regenerative practices on crop health, and show real data to my students,” Jacques added, highlighting how Tend not only supports the farm’s operations but also enhances its role as an educational hub.

This streamlined approach has allowed Jacques to maximize productivity, reduce waste, and allocate resources more effectively, ensuring that Orion’s View Farm continues to thrive as a model of regenerative agriculture.

Less Screen Time, More Farming

On his 5.5-hectare farm, Jacques manages a range of enterprises, including vegetable plots, free-range poultry, and pigs, all integrated under regenerative practices. The diversity of his farm presents unique challenges in planning and resource allocation, especially when balancing productivity with ecological sustainability.

Tend’s crop planning and task management tools have transformed how Jacques organizes and optimizes his growing space. With its visual crop planning feature, Jacques can efficiently map out rotations, planting schedules, and harvest plans. This capability ensures every area of the farm is used effectively, supporting both crop diversity and soil health.

Tend’s intuitive design also allows Jacques to track his diverse operations in one place, from crop rotations to livestock care. With everything centralized, he can easily identify areas for improvement and adapt his practices accordingly.

“Tend’s crop planning feature helps me visualize where everything needs to go and when, whether it's a vegetable plot or a livestock rotation,” Jacques said.

By leveraging Tend, Jacques has not only maximized the productivity of his farm but also ensured that every decision aligns with his commitment to regenerative agriculture. The ability to track and plan in such detail has enabled him to maintain an ecological balance across his diverse enterprises, proving that sustainability and productivity can go hand in hand.

“I underestimated how much time I spent trying to manage tasks and plan manually—it was far more than I thought.”

- Jacques Van Wyk, Owner

Results and Impact

Since integrating Tend into its operations, Orion’s View Farm has achieved significant improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. Key outcomes include:

Efficiency Boost:

Tend has significantly reduced the time Jacques spends on administration, freeing him to focus on farming and teaching.
Eliminated the need for cumbersome spreadsheets, saving hours every week.
Streamlined task assignments, ensuring workers stay organized and productive.

Data-Driven Decision-Making:

Jacques relies on Tend’s centralized system to manage farm data efficiently.
Tracks crop performance and schedules for better planning.
Allows analysis of past growing seasons to refine practices over time.

Sustainability Leadership:

Orion’s View Farm is an example of how technology can support regenerative agriculture.
Uses Tend to manage diverse farming operations while maintaining ecological balance.
Demonstrates how small farms can achieve sustainability through innovation.

Educational Impact:

Jacques integrates Tend into his educational programs to show aspiring farmers the value of technology.
Provides real-world examples of efficient farm management.
Inspires a new generation to adopt sustainable practices.

Future Outlook: Building on Success

With the enhanced efficiency and sustainability brought about by using Tend, The Agrarian Kitchen is poised to deepen their impact and expand their educational and technological initiatives. They plan to:

Broaden Educational Programs: Jacques plans to expand his workshops, offering more in-depth training on regenerative farming techniques, including training materials that incorporate real data and insights from Tend and demonstrate how technology can transform small-scale farming.
Strengthen Farmer Collaboration: Jacques aims to create cooperative networks with other local farmers to share resources such as compost and livestock to support sustainable practices. His goal is to build a community focused on improving food security and local resilience.
Enhancing Farm Efficiency: Jacques continues to refine operations at Orion’s View with Tend’s tools, optimizing crop rotations and resource use for greater productivity and further streamlining his task management.
Inspiring Future Farmers: Jacques is committed to fostering a new generation of farmers dedicated to sustainability. He plans to use Tend to demonstrate the viability of small-scale regenerative farming and encourage young farmers to embrace innovation and ecological stewardship.

Saving Time and Centralizing Operations with Tend