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,