“I was born with it,” says Ndumiso Gule on this episode of the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast. “My passion for farming started when I was young.”
Gule, the assistant farm manager and beef section manager at the renowned Baynesfield Estate in KwaZulu-Natal is the mover and shaker of the week on episode 44 of South Africa’s favourite agriculture podcast.
Gule, from his years of experience, gave us some sound advice for common errors that cattle farmers must avoid as they start in this business.
“When you have a farm where you will keep your cattle, you must buy animals that come from a similar environment, with similar ticks, similar heat, things like that,” Gule explains. “Then once they arrive you must apply the necessary procedures to ensure that they adapt to that environment.”
Listen to the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast to hear more about Gule’s tips and tricks for livestock farming, or read more about him here: “Farming is hard work, says 29-year-old livestock enthusiast”.
In our agripreneurship slot the Farmer’s Inside Track Team talked to MC Loock, senior manager of agribusiness at Standard Bank, about diversification and how it can benefit the agricultural sector, especially at farm level. Diversification is a strategy to improve the adaptability of the business, which is extremely important in the ever-changing environment of agriculture.
“Diversification is a risk management strategy that includes a range of assets and/or investments in a portfolio,” explains Loock. “The portfolio with different kinds of assets will yield a higher long-term yield and reduce the risk in the portfolio.”
Also in this episode we’ve got some good news to share in the wake of the negative impact covid-19 has had on the food industry. Tinyiko Mageza, executive manager of marketing at the V&A Waterfront, introduces the Farmer’s Inside Track team to the ground-breaking plan to develop a local food community incubator starring Mzansi’s flavours and culture. The new farm-to-plate accelerator project, Maker’s Landing, is a ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind project in South Africa.
“The purpose is to lower the barriers of entry to the sector,” says Mageza. “There are often socio-economic challenges that prevent people who are passionate about food from commercialising and transforming their passion into a business.”
This accelerator program will create jobs and act as a powerful incubator for the food industry. “It’s not just another food market,” Mageza explained. “Maker’s Landing is so much more than that.”
Keeping on our topic of food, we talked to Chef Karabo Benevolent Leeuw in our Mzansi Flavour segment. Also known as Chef Benev, he shared his secret to a perfect home-cooked South African meal.
“My secret ingredient for the perfect African meal is chicken,” says Chef Benev. “It’s available and bred everywhere, it’s cheap to buy and easy to prepare.”
He shared many inspiring flavours and different ways to enjoy chicken as a farm to fork meal, and we received more top tips from nutritionist Andrea du Plessis.
At the top of the Farmer’s Inside Track reading list, selected by Mzansi farmers, is The Heavy Chef Guide to Starting a Business in South Africa by Fred Roed. Roed is the founder and CEO of Heavy Chef, a community platform for entrepreneurs.
Roed has started several businesses and mentored dozens of successful startup entrepreneurs and combined all his wisdom into this guide. “I wanted to write something that is truly accessible and easy to read,” explains Roed.
Farmer’s Inside Track is proudly brought to you by Food For Mzansi. The show, ranking high-up on South Africa’s weekly podcast charts, is hosted by Dawn Noemdoe and Duncan Masiwa. It promises to bring you up to speed with the latest movements in the fascinating world of farming and agriculture.
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