Free State Young Farmers Committee Vice chairman increases the bar

Danielle de Kock, 34, farms in the Hertzogville region in the free state, where she runs Dannbrie Brangus Stud in collaboration with her mother Heibrie, and brother Hannes de Kock JNR.

In addition to the family business, De Kock is a partner in a livestock marketing agency that was founded in 2021/22, Elrize Alberts Borarking (EAB), located in Vryburg, Northwest. Earlier this year, EAB organized a dry master stud sales where the average price of animals arrived at R600,000.

De Kock is also the vice chairman of the Young Farmer Committee of Free State Agriculture (FSA) and says it is a privilege to be in office by her colleagues. She is the first woman to hold the position within the organization.

She says she was accompanied by her father, Hannes (SNR), her mother and her grandfather Danie Botha, who each had given her knowledge.

Her grandfather played an instrumental role. She calls him “a man in a million”, who started working as a driver for a cooperative and earned R3.50 a month. Botha grew to the point of possessing 13 farms and despite countless ups and downs, it will successfully work around 500 adult cattle at the age of 78.

She says it is not always easy to sail and they often disagree, because they are both equally stubborn. “But just in the field with him, I am able to learn so much about the country and the field, about cattle.”

She says he is a good person who does not approve any flashy expenses. His philosophy, and hers, is to measure bank statements instead of the size of Bakkie.

Fathers influence

Her father was a hard taskmaster with high expectations, but she says she appreciates his approach. He was there when she caught her first Studkalf and marked just four years old.

“I was kicked and trampled and covered with blood, but I wanted to farm and I remember that my father was so proud of me, brag about me for other farmers,” she remembered.

She never went to the coast for a vacation in December, because then planting, and in the winter holidays she would supervise a crew of employees who would pick up in the field in the field after harvest.

“My father would pay me 5% for every bag delivered and after I had paid wages to my staff, the profit was mine,” she said.

Her mother started to farm after her parents are divorced. De Kock says that her mother “is not a dreamer – she is all about the black -white facts.

“When I was 16, I spoke with her about wanting to buy a PlayStation with the R5000 I deserved. My mother said to me:” Are you going to dream your dreams or do you bring me your calculations? “

After she had thought and made calculations, she invested the capital in some sheep meat merino -out. A few years later she had a herd of 29 sheep she sold to buy her first studkoe for R23 500 – a pregnant cow called Luna bred by “Uncle Sias”.

She laughs as she remembers how she used all her money to buy the cow without any way to transport him home. “The auctioneer Andrew Miller said he would arrange to have the cow transported to my farm.”

Increase in women’s studs breeders

Today she has 32 stud cows and different bulls. She is also proud of the increase in women’s stops breeders. “When we started, there were only two women involved in the 178 Brangus studs in SA. Today we are a group of up to nine or 10 female breeders.”

Although the family has washed, they are currently not cropping. Instead, these countries are rented to other young farmers. “I am not leasing to mega farmers. I want to give the young farmers a foot in the door.”

She has a feedlot on her farm and will capture excess calves that are not selected for study purposes, and occasionally buy cows in thinner C3 for slaughter at the local slaughterhouse about 40 km from the farm.

“My dream for the future is to be able to plant my own corn to use in my feeder instead of buying in corn.” This would also be a dream for my brother who is a crash farmer in heart and soul. “

Challenges for young farmers

De Kock says that getting a foot in the door is one of the biggest challenges for young farmers. “Mega farmers buy all the country and get even bigger. You have to ask when there is sufficient enough. There is no gap for a young farmer to start unless you’ve inherited or have a country.”

This has been added access to financing via the banks and a lack of safety. In her case she had bought cows from her father. “My grandfather was willing to guarantee me to get the bank’s loan. He could have losing everything to help, but I couldn’t have done it differently.”

A third challenge she comes up is more specific to her industry, the meat industry. She says that profitability is a huge challenge and this is the first time in four years that she expects to make a profit.

“This year, the slaughter and corn price ratio is actually suitable for me to make a profit compared to the losses I have made over the past three to four years.”

She says that there is something terribly wrong with the industry when she gets R78/kg as a slaughter price, but can find Biltong at a shops in Bloemfontein priced on R780/kg.

“If we (De Boer) get a decrease of 50c/kg on our price, this can mean the difference between making a profit or loss. Then we go to a store and see these prices; how can the Biltong R700 cost more than what the farmer got?”

Youth drain

De Kock says that some of the aforementioned problems lead to many young farmers looking for work outside the country, or as foremen or managers for large -scale farmers.

She says that from a membership of around 3000 farmers in agriculture, are only about 200 younger than 40 years.

“So many young farmers go to places like America to drive tractors to save enough money to come back and buy a farm,” she notes.

She says she has customers who send money home, ask her to buy cattle for them, who are then managed by a local farmer, so that they can start agriculture when they finally return from migrating work.

She again emphasizes the Mega farmers as a challenge in this case and says that when land becomes available for sale, these major players encourage prices too high for entry -level farmers to compete.

She cites another example of a potato farmer who has 27 foremen for him. “They work for him, but nobody gets the chance to actually do his own thing.”

She fears that South Africa will follow the same route as the factory agriculture that is seen in places like the US, especially in the meat industry. She uses dairy products as an example and said that when she grew up, almost every farm had a milk shed and there were daily collections.

“Today there is only one milkman left in our entire region (Hertzogville 13 region). Every farm has a deserted milk shed.”

She says it feels like the meat industry is going in the same way and says that people who only farmers to sell teat farmers. “It is death due to a thousand cuts.”

There must be changes, but she says that farmers can also be stubborn. For example, she says, a farmer will complain about a decrease in prices of 50 ° C, which amounts to approximately R120 on a calf of 240 kg. However, when she suggests a feedlot on their farms to earn a potential of R500 more, they tell her that this is too much trouble.

Message to young farmers

De Kock says her opinion, and that of the YF committee, is that you cannot lean back and wait until things happen.

“Set your hand and get involved in everything – in organized agriculture, in your local community. Become a member of a local trembling (Tugk of War) club.” Don’t ask why me? Rather say ‘why not me’. “

She says that change starts with every individual and that she might not be a big, rich farmer, but where she can, she will find a way to help. She mentions examples such as helping in older age houses, taking roads and doing bush cleaning up along rings.

She also has a message to the fathers and their children. She says that the elderly have to realize that their children are just looking for a foot in the door.

“Give them the chance to try their ideas and make mistakes. It is through learning through our mistakes that we can achieve success.”

For the sons she says they should not fight with their fathers. “Grab the chance. Be humble and learn from the experience he has built up for a lifetime.”

However, she goes one step further and does not overlook their daughters at fathers as potential successors in their farms.

“Stop raising your daughters to become the wife of a farmer. Also give her the chance. Look at all your children; the child who is interested in agriculture will show you that of a very young age.”

For more information, contact Danielle de Kock E -Mail [email protected].