Elundini municipality’s Dwayne Kaschula said it was a “proud and humbling moment” when he was named Eastern Cape young farmer of the year last week at a prestigious Agri EC dinner event in Jeffreys Bay.
From a large and hugely diverse field of nominations, Agri EC first narrows the field down to four in each province, before making personal inspection visits and interviews.
The nine finalists go through to the nationals in November, where the grand prize is a brand new Toyota Hilux single-cab, beloved of all farmers and SA’s top-selling vehicle for 11 consecutive years.
Kaschula, 37, grew up Elundini's spectacular Mooi River valley, in the foothills of the Drakensberg — and is a passionate breeder of cattle, but the farm also produces potatoes, maize and eggs.
The Nqanqarhu/Maclear district has come through some tough challenges this year, Kaschula said, with a drought that hit his crops during the crucial growing season of February and March, as well as the ongoing scourge of stock theft.
Like every farmer in the province, Kaschula has lost countless animals to rustlers over the years, and each one hurts.
Then, the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease has cast a shadow, with several outbreaks in the province.
Although the disease has not showed up in the district, “it is a constant worry, and also it constrains movement of stock,” he said.
Kaschula said a highlight of his year has been the strides forward with his artificial insemination breeding programme, boosted by imports from the US.
“And it’s been an exciting year with the [egg] layers as well,” he enthused.
He says one secret of his success is variety — and also, he works hard to ensure that each division on the farm enhances the others.
“The maize goes to the chickens and the cattle, the chickens give compost to the crops and so on,” he explains.
Like any good parent, he refuses to name a favourite, saying he is equally passionate about all the farm’s activities. Another secret to success, he adds, is his “fantastic” team.
Each division has its own manager, whose days are filled with entirely different concerns, challenges and seasonal rhythms from the other divisions, yet somehow everything flows towards one goal.
Maybe it is a coincidence, but the farm is even called Confluence, named for the meeting of the Mooi and Pot rivers in this scenic place.
Together the Mooi and Pot form the Tsitsa river, which in turn joins the mighty Mzimvubu on its way southeast to the Indian Ocean — the last major river in SA to be developed.
In fact, just south of the border of his land is where the Tsitsa forms the site of the Eastern Cape’s long-awaited dream — the two dams, Ntabelanga and Laleni, that will change everything for this famished region.
Known together as the Mzimvubu Water Project, the Ntabelanga will be mainly for irrigation but the smaller Laleni, 20km downstream, will one day flood this remote area with cheap, abundant hydroelectric power.
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