Mentorship, attitude key
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for emerging farmers who are beneficiaries of land reform is that they don’t receive title deeds for the land they live and work on – making it almost impossible to secure loans for capital equipment to develop it.
Alexandria farmer Tshilidzi Matshidzula, who received the Mangold Trophy for sustainable farming practices at the Bathurst Conservation Committee-hosted Farmers Day last week, is critical of the way land reform has been carried out in South Africa thus far.
“There have been very few success stories with land reform,” he said during his presentation to a large gathering of farmers, suppliers and government officials at Hunters Lodge near Alexandria.
What the government should be doing is supporting existing working projects, he said, rather than bringing in groups and putting them on land.
“Big groups don’t work,” he said. “Because people don’t feel a sense of ownership.”
Key to the success of land reform is getting the right people on the right farms, Matshidzula reckons.
It’s a principle he actively practises on Little Barnet, the 342ha dairy farm of which he is the general manager.
It’s a successful operation with 443 cows in milk producing 8 630 litres a day, and for which the 28-year-old recently received the 2016 Toyota Young Farmer of the Year award for the Eastern Cape.
He prefers to employ young people, he told an amused audience that included his older mentors, successful commercial farmer Walter Biggs and Jeff Every.
“I don’t have time for anyone over 35,” he joked.
He also takes into account people’s level of education.
“If employees are going to take responsibility for something like a somatic cell count (a milk quality monitoring procedure) they need to be able to read and write, and calculate,” he said.
Organisational culture and a shared vision are important to Matshidzula’s management style.
Key to his success, too, was the support he received from Biggs in the form a R1.7 million unsecured loan.
Jane Biggs, who is married to Walter, does the administration for the enterprise.
The entity Matshidzula manages has a share milking agreement with Matshibele (Pty) Ltd, which is the land owner.
Good farm management, sound administration and business ethics, along with a strong support network among the farming and farm supplies communities saw a growth from 164 cows in milk in February 2009 to February 2016, when he recorded 443 cows in milk.
And his ambition doesn’t stop there.
“By 2019 I aim to be milking 700-800 cows,” he said.
Ndlambe Mayor Phindile Faxi, speaking to Grocott’s Mail after the presentation, said Matshidzula was an inspiration.
“I hope this success rubs off on other young farmers,” he said. “I hope some struggling farmers might be inspired.”
He sees his role as Mayor as being to help connect struggling farmers with successful farmers.
“Because of the role successful commercial farmers can play in mentoring emerging farmers, I am happy to see so many of them here today,” Faxi said.
Criteria on which the Bathurst Conservation Committee judges the Mangold Trophy are conservation of natural resources, veld management and soil erosion control, the control of noxious weed, invaders and aliens, and farm records.