Farmers Review Africa Nov-Dec 2018 Farmers Review November-December 2018-6 | Page 32

FEATURE Tru-Cape chairman is South Africa’s National Farmer of the Year 2018 Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing chairman Pieter Graaff with managing director Roelf Pienaar and Freshmark managing A t a gala event held in Stellenbosch the Agricultural Writers SA announced the winners of the 2018 National Farmer, New Entrant into Commercial Agriculture and Agriculturist of the Year. The main sponsors of the event are Bayer, Santam Agriculture, Sanlam and Rovic Leers. The three national winners are: The 2018 National Farmer of the Year is Pieter Graaff, a farmer from Ceres in the Western Cape. The 2018 New Entrant into Commercial Agriculture is Leonard Mavhugu, a farmer from the former Ciskei region of the Eastern Cape. The 2018 Agriculturist of the Year 30 |November - December 2018 is Wandile Sihlobo, an agricultural economist from Gauteng. Annually, the Agricultural Writers SA acknowledge outstanding achievements of commercial farmers, new entrants into commercial agriculture, and agriculturists. One of the aims of these awards is to give prominence to the role that farmers and agriculturists play in the agricultural sector in South Africa. It is also important to note that the award recipients also impact on the broader economy of the country and the southern African region. This year’s candidates were: Agriculturist of the Year • Gauteng – Wandile Sihlobo • Limpopo – Frits van Oudtshoorn • Mpumalanga – Johann du Preez • Western Cape – Prof. Eugene Cloete • New Entrant into Commercial Agriculture • Eastern Cape – Leonard Mavhugu • Gauteng – Mbali Nkabinde • Western Cape – Wayne Mansfield Farmer of the Year •KwaZulu-Natal – Joseph Baynes Estate (Pty) Ltd (Myles van Deventer) • Limpopo – Mahela Boerdery (Edward Vorster & seuns) • North West – Johan Styger • Western Cape – Pieter Graaff “Every day we are met with the challenge of feeding a growing world population. With these awards,