Meet Liaan Janse van Vuuren, General Manager: Actions and Insights
The Aerobotics team is thrilled to welcome Liaan to our team! Liaan has extensive experience in the agricultural industry, having spent 5 years managing farms and 8 working with growers.
- When did you join Aerobotics?
I officially started in January 2021, but I’ve been working with Aerobotics’ intelligent tools since 2018.
2. What is your role in the company?
Closing the loop between our tree and yield insights, and the actions needed to increase an orchards’ production and return on investment.
3. What does your day-to-day entail?
Mostly spending time with the customer and product teams to ensure that the insights on our platform support high-end agricultural actions. Visiting farms is also a big part of my day to ensure that all of our data is translating into knowledge for our growers.
4. Please tell us a bit about your background. What did you do before joining the company?
I was the Technical Business Development Manager for Viking, a crop protection company based in the Western and Northern Cape. It was during this time that I started using Aerobotics’ tools to add more value to our infield customer value propositions.
5. What are you most looking forward to at the company in 2021?
Playing an active role in increasing the overall value that we can add to growers and their crops. Closing the loop on high-end data to knowledge delivery. With very exciting projects in the pipeline, I can only say: watch this space!
6. How have you seen our tree and yield insights add value for customers?
I have seen our tree insights being used to determine limiting areas in table grapes, identify the cause of stress (in most cases it was irrigation), and then task a corrective action to ensure the vines no longer grow sub-optimally. As they say, “the proof’s in the pudding”, and we are now, at harvest, seeing the return on investment for our interventions earlier in the season. The next step is to identify areas of nutrition-based stress and to make corrections during the off-season period and start the new season strong.
7. Now we want to find out more about you. What can you be found doing in your spare time?
I love spending time with my wife and two kids and being in nature, whether in the water, on a bike or just running some trails.
Request a demo today to see how our tree and yield insights can benefit your operations.
