Agri Kultuur June/July 2013 | Page 25

agricultural products is in danger of

outstripping supply. Opportunities are

everywhere. Why is it, then, that the

number of farmers in South Africa (full

time and part time) is declining? What's

going on?

Ernst Janovsky predicts that the number of farmers in SA will have declined by nearly two thirds down to 15 000 by the mid2020's.

What is an appropriate response? Is it even relevant to discuss the part played by governments, the weather, the markets (supermarkets?) or the actions of other people?

If a “breakthrough” exists, where is it most likely to be found? What does a

breakthrough look like, anyway?

Clem Sunter and Ernst Janovsky need no

introduction. Dr Parsons was born and

raised on a large farming operation,

including the country's largest dairy and

pig enterprises, in Zimbabwe (then

Rhodesia). His father, a banker, insisted

that each farm enterprise must stand on its own economic feet. When the political climate started deteriorating in the late 1950's and early 1960's, his father recommended that Stan and his brothers go back to university for higher degrees.

Stan's Ph.D. is in reproductive physiology

and he has an MSc in Agricultural

Economics (he claims it didn't teach him

anything about how to make money in

agriculture). Dr Parsons is famous

(amongst his students at least) for telling

farmers in Rhodesia in the mid-1970s that

the majority of them would not be in

business within a decade or two. What did

he mean? And how did he know?

Is Ernst Janovsky telling us the same thing?

What does he know that farmers don't?

Terry McCosker was raised on the land,

growing up in the 1950's and 1960's on a

mixed farm in south-east Queensland,

Australia. At eighteen years of age he

became the youngest person within the

Queensland Department of Primary

Industries to publish a scientific paper.

He opened new horizons for the northern Australian beef industry when he made world first discoveries in the fields of bull fertility, ruminant nutrition (“McCosker Brew”) and pasture ecology at Mt Bundy Station, Northern Territory.

Dr Parsons inspired Terry to launch the

GrazingforProfit™ School in Australia and

South Africa, which now has over 8 000

graduates. He is recognised as the leading Australian authority on time controlled grazing and regenerative agriculture.

He is a firm believer that this generation of farmers must become the “re-generation… that we need a fundamental paradigm shift.

It is time for a new generation of thinking

in agriculture”. His greatest skill is in

challenging the conventions of agri- culture and in showing how we could make a fundamental difference to farm business performance by changing the things that are seemingly impossible to achieve.

If you are interested in attending the

conference please let us know now (at no

obligation or risk to yourself) and we will

send you a comprehensive information

package. We will also list you to benefit

from an early registration fee. We will then ask you to register formally for the

conference, in good time, and provide

details of preferential accommodation

rates and fees. These will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis.

Reserve a place (places will be limited) and

enable us to prepare fully for your participation,

you just have to tell us you're interested by

providing your full name(s), ID number, phone

numbers and postal address. Email it to

Bruce Brown at [email protected]

or contact him on 058 622 1499.