Free State Agriculture (FSA) has announced its three finalists in its Young Farmer of the Year competition. This year, a grain, pig and sheep farmer are vying for the coveted title.
Le Roux Erasmus from Hoopstad, Hennie Venter from Theunissen and Jaco Burger from Wepener are the finalists in the prestigious competition presented for the 26th consecutive year.
FSA’s judging panel recently visited them to determine the winner to be announced on Thursday, 7 April. The panel is convened by Professor Pieter Fourie, head of the agriculture department at Central University of Technology.
Criteria used for judging
“It is wonderful to experience how positive the participants are about the future of agriculture in South Africa! It creates hope,” says Fourie.
According to Fourie all participants are judged on their future vision, budget and finances, production, marketing, maintenance, personnel management and community involvement. “It is really not the size of the farm that determines a winner, but the precision, balance and management performance of the young farmer.”
The winner walks away with a cash prize as well as other prizes from various sponsors. They will automatically participate in Toyota and Agri SA’s national Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Douglas Osler of Fouriesburg was FSA’s young farmer for 2021.
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