Dr Ilse Trautmann, Deputy Director General: Agricultural Research and Regulatory Services, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, delivered a keynote address at a CropLife Information Day held in December last year. Here is a summary of Dr Trautmann’s speech. In an…
Focus on women in agriculture: Words: Carmé Naudé The saying goes, behind every man, there is a strong woman, and within agriculture, there are multiple strong forces to be reckoned with. One such force is Retha Louw the CEO of…
Text: E Steenkamp South Africa’s pome and stone fruit industries are a cornerstone of the country’s agricultural economy. Roughly 1,150 producers cultivate more than 54,000 hectares across mostly the Western and Eastern Cape, harvesting some 2.13 million tonnes of fruit…
More than 60 years ago Dr Paul Clüver’s mother, Gertrude, established a farm school on De Rust, the family farm in the Elgin Valley. With only 23 learners. A small first step is key to a great journey, Gerrit Rautenbach…
By Mariette Kotzé A recent enquiry regarding how empowerment transactions work sparked this article. There are so many factors and variables to consider. It can be very complex or quite simple depending on your exposure and or understanding of business…
In any given set-up, organisation, team or business, different threads connect all the right dots, making it work splendidly. At the farm Laastedrif, at the top of Bo-Swaarmoed in the Witzenberg District, one of these threads was woven by a…
Hortgro’s newest board member, Unati Speirs, has built an impressive resume during her 20-plus years in agriculture. Hortgro sat down with the farmer and businesswoman to find out who she was away from the boardroom. By Kara van der Berg…
One of the key economic drivers and objectives of the South African fruit and wine industries is to transform the agri-landscape in a sustainable manner by focussing on primary agriculture as well as the entire value chain – upstream and…
Danell du Toit is MD of the De Keur Group and Vice-Chairperson of Hortgro Pome. She spoke to Jenny Underhill about the values she acquired in childhood, her unexpected career path, and her take on women in agriculture. “Many of…
Georgie Hewitt is a director of Verdun and Vice-Chairperson of Hortgro Stone. She spoke to Jenny Underhill about her education and work experience, joining the family business, and her experience of being a woman in agriculture. Hewitt grew up in…
By Elise-Marie Steenkamp More and more young people, many of whom have no farming experience, are drawn to the agriculture sector. With youth month around the corner, we spoke to four youngsters that have found an accidental home in agriculture…
Over the next couple of months, we will introduce you to several of the Hortgro Science post-grad students. This is the second interview of the series with Portia Solomon, who told her story to Thomas Davidson. My name is Portia…