A Healthy Profit From Pasture-raised Eggs

As a technician specialising in the installation and repair of gates, Rico Vergotine had little reason to be interested in agriculture. His life changed, however, after a chance meeting, and today he manages 2 500 pasture-raised chickens that produce 1 900 eggs a day. Jeandré van der Walt visited him on Boschendal wine estate to find out about his farming techniques and future plans.

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Rico Vergotine of Idas Valley in Stellenbosch was an electric gate technician, “who happened to be at the right place at the right time”. In 2010, he was repairing gates at the Spier wine estate in Stellenbosch when he met Angus McIntosh, who runs the Spier Biodynamic Farm.

“At that stage, I was bored with my job and needed a new challenge,” recalls Vergotine. “Angus and I started chatting and I asked if he had a job for me on the farm.”

McIntosh had nothing to offer him at the time, but noted Vergotine’s enthusiasm. When the position for a maintenance technician became available at Spier, McIntosh prompted him to apply, and he was subsequently employed.

The farm was well run, however, and there was little to repair. So Vergotine soon found himself helping out with the sheep, cattle and chickens, and went on to spend the next four years working alongside McIntosh.

“I learnt a lot about biodynamic agriculture, cattle, sheep and chicken farming, running a small abattoir and butchery, and processes such as packaging, retail, labelling and creating new products,” says Vergotine. “I also learnt about regenerative farming practices, a way of farming that aims to increase and sustain productivity by restoring and enhancing the environment.”

In 2014, Rob Lundie, then co-owner of Boschendal, approached Vergotine with an offer to start a pasture-raised chicken production business using mobile trailers.

Although he had gained some experience in this regard, Vergotine did not immediately accept the offer.