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November 2016
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6 year old Mr Frans Mokoena from
the Thabu Nchu district in the Free
State, who received the 2016 award
for Grain SA/Absa/John Deere
Financial New Era Commercial Farmer of
the Year, is a true example of a hardworking,
productive farmer.
Mokoena lost his parents at the age of 21
and all of a sudden he was solely responsible
for the farm. Luckily he had already been
involved in the daily farming activities since
he was young. As a young boy he ploughed
the fields, drove a tractor, fed and milked
the cows and loaded the milk so that his dad
could sell it in town.
In 2006 Mokoena leased more communal
land in Thaba Nchu. He also joined the
Grain SA Farmer Development Programme
where he attended study group meetings,
training courses and farmer’s days.
Mokoena is a member of the 500 Ton Club,
Ladybrand Study Group, National Emergent
Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (NERPO)
and the African Farmers’ Association of
South Africa (AFASA).
‘I am where I am today, thanks to the
knowledge I obtained through Grain SA.
I am a big farmer now because of the
information and training I received,’ he said
in the DVD presentation that was screened
during the awards ceremony.
Mokoena is married to Agnes. She runs
the egg production line of the business
which includes 500 layers. Agnes also runs
the dairy and administration side of this
growing family business. They farm on
2 200 ha – a combination of private leased
land and land acquired in 2012 through the
government’s Proactive Land Acquisition
Strategy (PLAS) programme.
He is in charge of the sheep, beef cattle
and crops. Maize and sunflower are plant-
ed on rotation. He also plants 125 ha of
teff, which he has a very good market for
in Lesotho. Tillage is limited to disking,
followed by a ripper-roller and seedbed
preparation before planting. In growing his
business, he is currently building a dam for
irrigation purposes on his farm.
‘I can see a lot of progress. I am improving
each and every year,’ he said.
Mokoena is grateful for his team on the
farm who contributes to his success. He
provided all of his workers with houses
in the township and also helped with the
erection of a school building in the area. In
his acceptance speech that was translated
by his mentor, Mr Johan Kriel of Grain SA,
he thanked the organisation for all its help
and support through the years and said that
he hoped it would rain soon so that all the
farmers can have a sustainable harvesting
season.
New Era Commercial Farmer of the Year category (250+ tons)
A true example to other
emerging farmers
GRAIN SA
Awards ceremony
RUTH SCHULTZ,
SA Graan/Grain
contributor and
HELENUS KRUGER,
photos
1: John Deere Financial, in partnership with Absa, sponsored this award.
Frans Mokoena and his wife, Agnes, was invited to the stage to receive the award.
With them is Ferdie Marx (alliance manager: John Deere Financial), Cobus Wells
(head: Absa AgriBusiness Africa), Andries Theron (vice chairman: Grain SA) and
Caleb Varner (manager: Retail Finance Sub-Sahara Africa, John Deere Financial).
2: This is what a winner’s smile looks like. A very happy Frans Mokoena with the
symbolic key that he received from Caleb Varner on stage earlier the evening. The
real key for the 5503 MFWD John Deere tractor that he won as prize, will be
handed over to him when the tractor is delivered to his farm.
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