From a shared youth venture to an independent commercial operation, Jacobsdal poultry farmer Llewellyn Louw has spent the last three years taking total control of his business, surviving infrastructural challenges, and securing major national award nominations.
When Food For Mzansi first visited the farming town of Jacobsdal in the Free State, Llewellyn Louw was working alongside two co-founders, Shadrack Rakgokong and Jolene Coetzee, to launch a local poultry startup. Returning to the area today, the business looks completely different.
Louw is now steering the ship entirely on his own, having rebranded the enterprise as Louws Poultry Production.
Operating from Jacobsdal 1340 Extension 5, Louw’s evolution from a cooperative partner to an independent agribusiness owner proves that true agricultural drive cannot be discouraged by a change in team dynamics.
“My previous partners were no longer interested in farming,” Louw says. “We separated peacefully, and I continued with the farming because it’s in my blood.”
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Nurturing a life-long farming dream
Long before Louw ever managed his own commercial flock, his agricultural ambitions were quietly forming. While attending Ikanyegeng Combined School, where he matriculated in 2016, he harboured a dream that set him apart from his peers.
“While I was in school, I always dreamt of having my own farm and farming with my family,” Louw recalls. “No one in my family had a farming enterprise.”
To ensure he had the business literacy required to back up his dream, he dedicated the second semester of 2017 to studying as a management assistant at Northern Cape TVET College while concurrently completing a project management course through Oxbridge Academy.
His practical entry into farming came shortly after, working as an administrator for African Joy Farming. It was there that he met the Middletons, a local farming family whose structured operations gave him the ultimate blueprint for his own future. Inspired by their success, Louw gained the confidence to act.
“Looking back, I was motivated by a lovely family…. I used to work for them. They inspired me a lot, and that motivated me to write a proposal and start my farming journey.”
Returning to Jacobsdal, he teamed up with his initial co-founders to bring the dream to reality. Together, the young group drafted a formal business proposal based on poultry farming, successfully securing early mentorship and foundational feed support to launch operations on a one-hectare plot in 2021.
Navigating the solo pivot
When Louw and his team first established the business, the model was strictly built around free-range egg production. However, after the 2023 split left him as a solo operator, Louw experimented with different animal combinations to find his most profitable layout.
“I used to do free-range layers, then tried broilers, then got 10 goats, also one pig. Later, I changed everything back to layers with the cages.”
Today, Louw runs a highly focused operation of 360 layers in cages on the original one-hectare land. Steering the enterprise full-time with just one permanent employee has fundamentally shifted how he views agricultural management.
“One of the advantages is you enjoy your profits alone, you take decisions alone, and there is no one to blame if something goes wrong. You need to account for everything happening.”
Surviving the dry spell and winning national nods
Operating alone for three consecutive years without external financial backing forced Louw to become highly resilient. He constantly battles severe electricity limitations and theft. To protect his young chicks from cold temperatures without reliable power, he relies on charcoal heating systems to keep his poultry houses warm.
Despite these hurdles, he caught the eye of national selectors. Louw successfully pitched his way into the final stages of a major funding competition in 2023 and achieved his highest accolade yet by becoming a finalist in the prestigious 2025 Youth in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (YAFF) Awards.
His determination has recently been rewarded with a breakthrough. The Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) stepped in to provide asset assistance, equipping him with brand-new layer cages and a commercial incubator.
“For the past three years since I was alone, I didn’t get any funding. This is the first time,” Louw says. “I am 100% sure it will influence my business positively, and it will help open markets for me as well.”
A five-year vision
Currently supplying households and retail buyers in Jacobsdal and neighbouring Free State towns, Louw is already drafting his five-year growth strategy. He intends to scale up his enterprise to house 5 000 layers and establish a dedicated poultry abattoir on-site.
Louw’s poultry structures on his one-hectare plot, which are primed for expansion as part of his five-year growth strategy. Reflecting on his journey from a cooperative partner to an award-finalist solo owner, Louw believes young South Africans should view farming as an essential economic shield.
“Farming helps to contribute to the food security of our people, and in this state of our economy, you won’t regret venturing into agriculture. Once you’re in it, don’t give up. It might take some time before you see your profits, but keep pushing no matter what, and also be creative.”
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