Diversification pulls farmer through drought

Derec Giles admits that he wouldn’t have been able to financially survive the ongoing drought on his farm in the Klein Karoo without his highly diversified approach to production. He spoke to Glenneis Kriel about each of his enterprises.

- Derec Giles

FAST FACTS

• The switch from flood to sprinkler irrigation has improved water use efficiency on Derec Giles’s farm, Dwarsfontein.

• Ostrich chicks and newborn calves are raised intensively on the farm.

• Ewes are mated once every other month to provide a constant supply of lambs to the feedlot.

“I was born with a passion for farming and never missed an opportunity to be on the farm with my grandfather, Fonnie Barnardt. I spent most of my after-school hours working there.”

So says Derec Giles, recalling his childhood on the family farm, Dwarsfontein, which lies 12km from Uniondale in the Western Cape’s Klein Karoo. Apart from this hands-on experience, he also received the right theoretical training, attending Oakdale Agricultural High School in Riversdale.

Sadly, Barnardt died in 1998, so it was decided that Giles should move to Uniondale High School to be closer to the farm to help run it. His father was, at that stage, the financial manager of the Parks Board in the Southern Cape and was often away from home.

“Then, in 2011, my wife Charmaine and I started renting the farm out of the family trust,” says Giles.

He admits that while it had always been his dream to farm, it has not been an easy journey due of a lack of finance. But these hardships taught him to make the most of what he had and, more importantly, to take tough business decisions.