Top journalists and farmers announced

Excellence in agricultural journalism was celebrated at the Agricultural Writers Association's Farmer, Agriculturist and New Entrant of the Year Awards held recently in the Western Cape

- Glenneis Kriel

Celebrating excellence in agricultural journalism, the Agricultural Writers Association of South Africa (AWSA) recently announced the Farmer, Agriculturist and New Entrant of the Year Awards during a gala event held near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.

Dewald te Water of the Te Water Boerdery near Bethal in Mpumalanga won the Farmer of the Year Award. He farms maize, soya bean, oats, silage and Bovelder cattle. The silage is exported to the Middle East, and he adds value to the corn by making popcorn, chips and breakfast cereal, which is sold under his own brand.

Sophy Musabeni Litshani, who farms vegetables, won the New Entrant to Commercial Farming Award. As a child she planted spinach in her mother’s garden, and dreamt of becoming a farmer. After school, however, her mother encouraged her to rather become a nurse.

After working as a nurse for Mediclinic for a couple of years, she decided to follow her farming dream. But after three years of struggling to obtain financing, she managed to secure a 14ha plot in Mapleton, close to Vosloosrus on the East Rand.