The pressure that Mzansi’s farmers and agripreneurs have to endure to put food on our tables is immense. And in this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track video episode, sheep and cattle farmer Gary Patience (30) from Saron in the Western Cape unpacks just how hard it gets.
Patience and his family of farmers have a long history in the industry. They have kept their farming business, GT Agri Group, afloat without any government assistance for more than five decades.
READ: Mother and son duo: 50 years of successful farming without government handouts
In the video, the agripreneur talks about his journey from a starting out as a farm boy to becoming a farmer and recalls his fondest moments growing up on their family farm.
“My favourite thing to do was catching the lambs. I was very fond of playing rugby, so it was good rugby practice for me. Another thing was trying to compress the sheep’s wool after sheering with the little bit of weight of my body. But that was more playing then anything else,” he jokes.
Patience also speaks about getting access to markets and stresses why farmers should not focus too much on race, but rather on producing quality. He also talks about having a fallback business and establishing great relations with agriworkers.
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He shares why it’s important for him to leave behind a legacy for young people and farmers. “I’d like to leave a legacy for younger farmers so that they can see if you work hard on your goal you will achieve it,” he explains.
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