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5
April 2017
The grain route
d
uring last month’s Congress the Grain SA leadership
endeavoured to demonstrate to producers that, due
to a number of events and circumstances, the period
of the free market as we have come to know it after
the closure of all the Boards, has come to an end.
Maybe it is related to the drought; maybe it relates to Brexit or
maybe to the new direction the American president is taking. What-
ever the reason, grain production is in an era where there are not
many known routes. That is what we as an organisation must now
investigate and determine.
When one wanders in the forest and there is no path, there are a
few important factors which will determine what the journey is
going to be like. Firstly, you must have a very clear knowing of
where you want to go. That, as an organisation, we have determined
with our vision of sustainable grain production.
The next matter I thought about was the dangers of places we do
not want to go or cannot go to: Those are the issues we as producers
can do little or nothing about. They are the steep cliffs or big rivers
– I perceive them as the current political environment.
We have noted that during the past twelve months there were a
number of surprises regarding election results, but that is extremely
difficult to control. Even the international economic circumstances
and the exchange rate are matters Grain SA and its members can do
very little about.
Then there are those places that are negotiable and which one
can do something about: Over a hillock or through a ditch or just
pushing aside some thorny branches allowing one to pass that way.
For that we need leaders that have the ability to distinguish which
issues we should take on and where we should not venture.
The way through a forest with no roads will also not be without
scratches and sores, but if one persists and endures, we shall one
day arrive at a new destination.
It was exactly the same in 1997 when we closed the Marketing
Boards and embarked upon the wild ride of the free market. Leaders
had no precise idea where the route would go, but eventually there
was a road we could traverse more comfortably.
If I now ponder on issues that we as an organisation and our
members can do something about, matters such as better research
and improved market information come to mind. Training and
developing our expertise are also important building blocks. How-
ever difficult it may be, we have to push on – up the hill – to improve
the policy environment to enable sustainable production.
It was really encouraging that so many speakers at Congress ac-
knowledged who is their Compass for the new route. We will never
be able to pass through this ‘desert’ without the pillar of cloud during
the day and the pillar of fire at night.
Our partners for this voyage which we have embarked upon, have
also shown their true colours during the 2016 drought. They stood
by us when the cliffs were terribly steep. I have already mentioned
in the past that one does not need particularly strong leaders
when the going is easy, but when it becomes difficult, we salute the
men and women who raise their hands to take the lead.
Thank you also to those of you who took the role to encourage us
when it was a really bad day at the office – even though you had an
equally tough day on the farm. When we are once again appreciated
among our own people who encourage us and dress our ‘wounds’,
we are once again ready to attack the slopes and endeavour to find
the route by which we can attain sustainability.
Finally, life has taught me that there are few places where the roads
are downhill or level – it is mostly uphill. Therefore we are not look-
ing for short cuts or downward slopes. It is either in the deepest of
the gullies (the pain hereof cannot just continue) or the mountain
tops that will give us the inspiration to struggle ahead.
All the best for the road with us.