Farmers compete for FSA Young Farmer of the Year 2018 crown

1 Mar 2018

Reece Dedwith (milk) of the farm Rockridge near Parys, Wessel Hattingh (crops) of the farm Dipkraal near Heilbron, Hendrik Theron (Bonsmaras) of the farm Wolwekop near Dewetsdorp and Nelius Ferreira (Bonsmaras) of the farm Grootdraai near Harrismith will compete for the Free State Agriculture's (FSA) Young Farmer of the Year 2018 crown.

Other activities, such as sheep, wildlife and apples, also form part of their farming entities.

Source: @vslandbou

The FSA's judging panel consists of Profs Pieter Fourie, Allan Bennie and Erhard du Toit (all from the Central University of Technology), Dr Janus Henning (University of the Free State), Johann van Graan (Manager of Finance & Administration at FSA), Boet Wilken and Waldo van Niekerk (Chairman and Vice Chairman of FSA's Young Farmer Committee).

FSA's Young Farmer conference, with the theme Joint Farming, will take place at Monte Bello Estate in Bloemfontein on 12 April 2018, after which the winner of the Young Farmer competition will be announced at the gala evening.

Young farmer must set an example for other farmers

According to Fourie, coordinator of the judging panel and head of the Department of Agriculture at CUT, it is not the size of a farm that determines the winner. "He must set an example for other farmers in general, as well as for young farmers. How does he do that in terms of precision in his farming, how balanced is he and what is his management performance?" says Fourie.

"Is he a good manager of his unit? It's not about the size of his farm." According to him, it's more about how he does what he does and whether he makes a unique contribution.

Sections assessed include things like future image, budget and finance, production, marketing and community engagement. The most important criteria are the management philosophy and how technical skills are applied to put it into action.

The winner will, among other things, walk away with an overseas trip thanks to Case IH/ Northmec and will also automatically be a finalist in the Toyota Agri SA National Young Farmer of the Year competition.