Finalists announced in the 2021 Santam Agriculture National Silage Competition
Plaas Media is proud to announce the finalists in its eighth Santam Agriculture National Silage Competition. Despite various challenges that had to be overcome during the sampling season, the competition was once again a huge success.
This year's instalment saw a record number of 105 entries, 79 of which were maize, 16 small grains (oats), eight sorghum, and two grass (test bales). These entries consisted of 73 bunkers, 26 silo bags, and six bales. As in 2020, the bales category was included as a test category with a view to possible formal inclusion in the competition in future.
This year's instalment saw a record number of 105 entries, 79 of which were maize, 16 small grains (oats), eight sorghum, and two grass (test bales). These entries consisted of 73 bunkers, 26 silo bags, and six bales. As in 2020, the bales category was included as a test category with a view to possible formal inclusion in the competition in future.
Source: vivros62 via Pixabay
This year’s entries
A total of 23 companies and producers entered their clients or their own farms. Eleven of these companies are new to the competition.
The companies that entered this year were Afgri Animal Feeds, Quantum Foods/Nova Feeds, Welgemoed Farm, Kemin Industries, RCL Foods/Epol, Nutribase, Meadow Feeds Paarl and Meadow Feeds Natal, Winterstorm Investments, Pannar Seed, Sparta Baby Beef, Strapping & Profile, EC Contracting, Kameeldrift Voere, Hurwitz Farming, Saxeni Agric, White Gold Farms, Malati Farm, JW Nel & Seun Boerdery, Lactimar, Mas Corporation, Limpopo Dairies, Pioneer, and Envarto.
Sponsors
The head sponsor in this year’s competition was once again Santam Agriculture, who has been the name sponsor since the competition’s inception and has been hugely supportive throughout their involvement. The prize sponsors are Labworld, Claas/Kempston Agri, Pannar Seed, Kemin Industries, Strapping and Profile, Nutribase and Hurwitz Farming.
Sampling
The sampling was conducted by four post-graduate animal science students from various South African universities. They were Gerrit Putter and JG Els from the University of the Free State, Timothy Chilemba from the University of Pretoria, and Henlo Smit from Stellenbosch University.
These students were trained in the sampling process by Richardt Venter of AgSci, the competition’s coordinator. The sample testing was conducted by Dr Elrisa Taljaard and her team at Labworld. The analysis was done by the creator and overseer of the competition protocol, Prof Robin Meeske of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s Outeniqua Research Farm.
Meet the finalists
There are three formal categories in which finalists are announced, namely maize, feed (forage) sorghum, and oats. There is one test category, namely silage bales, and finalists are announced in that category as well.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the top ten maize entries are equally split between bunkers and silo bags. Among the maize finalists are three previous competition winners, which bodes for an exciting finish and speaks to the competitiveness of the entries, as well as the importance that the results have for our participants.
Maize category finalists in alphabetical order:
| Farm/enterprise name | Farmer/producer | Entered by | Entry type |
| ALS Group | Arno Joubert | Nutribase | Silo bag |
| Deale Beef | Cronjé Deale | Nutribase | Silo bag |
| Gerber Boerdery Trust | Ian Gerber | Afgri Animal Feeds | Cement wall bunker |
| Just Milk (Queensvalley) | Steve Moss | Strapping & Profile | Silo bag |
| Maluti Beef | Danbri Saayman | Strapping & Profile | Silo bag |
| PD Hauff & Son | Mark Hauff | Pioneer | Cement wall bunker |
| Simpson & Son Farming | Shane Simpson | Meadow Feeds Natal | Gravel wall bunker |
| Sparta Beef | Sello Ntjoboko | Sparta Beef | Silo bag |
| Stubbs Farming Paternership (Denleigh) | Nick Stubbs | Pioneer | Gravel wall bunker |
| Westend Landgoed | Hano Lombard | Nutribase | Gravel wall bunker |
The small grains category also boasts with some fantastic results this year and three out of the four finalists are previous category winners.
Small grains (oats) finalists in alphabetical order:
| Farm/enterprise name | Farmer/producer | Entered by | Entry type |
| Dassenvaley | Johan Mostert | Afgri Animal Feeds | Gravel wall bunker |
| De Draay | Awie Erasmus | Meadow Feeds Paarl | Bun/drive-over pile |
| Groenwei Boerdery | Bull van Rensburg | EC Contracting | Gravel wall bunker |
| Ocean Breeze Holsteins | JK Basson | Nova Feeds | Gravel wall bunker |
Feed (forage) sorghum finalists in alphabetical order:
| Farm/enterprise name | Farmer/producer | Entered by | Entry type |
| Berg en Dal Boerdery | Pieter Hamman | AFGRI Animal Feeds | Gravel wall bunker |
| Hurwitz Farming | Jarren Hurwitz | Hurwitz Farming | Silo bag |
| Saamstaan Boerdery (Vyevlei) | Elanza Fouché | AFGRI Animal Feeds | Gravel wall bunker |
Bales test category finalists in alphabetical order:
| Farm/enterprise name | Farmer/producer | Entered by | Entry type |
| Exact Silage | Burger Marais | Kameeldrift Voere | Bale |
| JW Nel & Seun Boerdery | Kempen Nel | JW Nel & Seun Boerdery | Bale |
| Saxeni Holdings | Emje Ferreira | Saxeni Agric | Bale |
Winners will be announced during a live streaming and watch party on 3 December at 6pm. To watch the announcement of the finalists, click on the link:
For more information regarding the competition, 2022 entries, or other queries, contact Deidré Louw at 066 231 2430 or deidre@plaasmedia.co.za.
Source: AgriOrbit
AgriOrbit is a product of Centurion-based agricultural magazine publisher Plaas Media. Plaas Media is an independent agricultural media house. It is the only South African agricultural media house to offer a true 360-degree media offering to role-players in agriculture. Its entire portfolio is based on sound content of a scientific and semi-scientific nature.
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