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NEWS
Phillip Mukhithi discussing farming issues with
Senwes Agronomist, Julias Ramohlabi.
So passionate is he that he even names his
Brahmans, with Chris being his first Brahman and
Chief his next. “But sadly Chris is now gone.”
MAIZE
Maize-wise Philip currently plants less than 100
hectares on his farm, but he is currently looking for
another farm with between 200 and 300 hectares of
arable land. He laughs as he remembers his journey:
“I thought success was when the trailer was full of
maize. Little did I know.” He only discovered the
meaning of high tonnages later and now he sometimes gets as much as 3 tons per hectare.
SENWES
One thing that he learned in business is that “you
need people to assist you.” Here he is grateful
for the assistance from Senwes, particularly from
Senwes Agronomist, Julias Ramohlabi. Julias
worked hand-in-hand with Phillip, mentoring him
about fertilisers and resource evaluation. “It was
something I never expected.” He further educates
himself by attending all training and study opportunities offered by Senwes. Julias confirms that
“Phillip is truly committed.”
There is a special
relationship between
Senwes and Phillip.
DIVERSIFY
Phillip tells us that he wants
to diversify his business through
farming. He admits that his current talent and
knowledge relate to the security industry. That is
why he introduced his daughter, Livhuwani (26), to
farming. His idea is to let her run the farm so that
she can learn what to do, and at the same time assist
him and relieve some of the pressure. Livhuwani talks
about the pressure on her father. “He is a committed
worker and pushes himself harder each and every day.
He made me love farming.”
HIS MOTTO
Phillip learned that “to make money in farming you
must be focused.” He said that in 2014 he had a bad
year, but he stayed true to his motto to persevere. “I
do not want to associate with failure. I always complete what I’m busy with.” Another thing is that he
doesn’t back down from a challenge. “You face it and
overcome it.”
And through it all, there is one thing that Phillip
teaches us all and that is that in business you need
talent and love. Or in his case, a talent for security
and a love for farming. In a way he represents the
future because with farming becoming part of the
global picture, it will also move towards becoming
an area at which investors will look with a view to
diversifying their brands.
Phillip appeared on the recent Nation in Conversation series of Senwes. Readers can access the episode
on Youtube at https://youtu.be/iZxwiQCiinA.
One of the stud Brahmans
on Phillip’s farm.
18
Feb/Mar 2016 • SENWES Scenario