On a 3 500-hectare game reserve which is home to various types of wild animals, Johan Janse van Rensburg, CEO of ALS Group, talks to Food For Mzansi journalist Duncan Masiwa about their approach to technology.
It’s a Thursday evening. The sun has set over the beautiful Lekwena Wildlife Estate, a private game reserve 10km east of Potchefstroom in North West.
Van Rensburg and I are surrounded by lush native bush and wildlife. In the distance, a group of people appear from the striking postcard setting. Here, where wildlife and humans peacefully live together.
The ALS Group Agri Division is a revered player in Mzansi’s farming community. The award-winning group specialises in wildlife, mining, property, equipment hire, roads and more. While they have their hands in a few pots, Van Rensburg says agriculture is where their hearts are.
Johan, It’s difficult to articulate such beauty…
It is a privilege to be 10km out of town and live on an active game farm. There are wild animals roaming free in between the houses. On the farm, we have 140 plots with people living in their dream houses.
It’s not fenced around the house but the whole reserve is well-secured. It is a place where you can jog, drive your bicycle and enjoy an active lifestyle.
ALS Group is involved in quite a number of sectors, what are they?
As a group, we are very diverse. We have a portfolio stretching from mining on the one side, to agriculture on the other side. In between, there is residential and development, and renting and selling property.
All of us, in our hearts, are farmers. Our agricultural business range from cattle farming to soybeans and maize production, drylands as well as irrigation. And of course, the game that we farm with.
Technology is key to your success, right?
To be successful in agriculture you must focus on costs. You are not a price giver, you are a receiver, so you’re in an industry where you cannot determine the price of your product. The only thing that you have control over is your inputs and you must be able to measure that.
The best way to do that is with technology. We use the latest available technology which helps us to improve our input costs and brings us to precision farming.
We use all the latest technology within the range of John Deere equipment. With satellite tracking, we can see which area of the land is producing and which is not. This helps you make production improvements.
Everything nowadays is GPS controlled, so you know exactly where the problem is and resolve it.
What’s your approach to technology? Systematically or all at once?
We are very conservative. We first check the technology out and see what is happening around the world, learn from each other and then start implementing it slowly.
We do not want to rush into these things. You must be sure and do your research before starting. We do not believe in changing just for the sake of changing, when we change our production must improve.
Not all technology [is good for you] or worth it. At ALS we make sure that it is feasible.
What is your advice to farmers moving towards a commercial scale?
If you are honest and hardworking on a small-scale, then God will bless you to be able to look after something bigger. If you do hard work, God will add to it.
You must first be successful on a small scale. Have discipline, work hard, put in the hours required, and make sure you do your research.
Even if you are farming on a small piece, make sure that you are farming that land to the best of your ability. If we wake up in the morning and think that we have arrived, it will be the last day that we exist.
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