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.