Step By Step, A Father-And-Daughter Team Turns A Neglected Farm Around

Marilyn Siegels was recently named the Western Cape’s best female commercial farmer after just two years in the industry. Along with her father, Edward van Niekerk, and sister, Yolande van Niekerk, she is rejuvenating a land restitution fruit farm. Jeandré van der Walt reports.

- Jeandre Van Der Walt

Marilyn Siegels ventured into farming in 2017 after leaving the corporate sector, where she worked as a medical representative for Nestlé. Despite little exposure to farming, she committed herself to the family business, for which her father had sacrificed a great deal.

According to Siegels, acquiring Protea Farm, which trades under the auspices of the Nitaflo company and is situated in the Elgin Valley, was no easy task. “It took my father [Edward van Niekerk] almost seven years to finally receive the farm from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) system,” she explains.

He was granted a 30-year lease from the government, with the option of buying the land after five years.

“The farm was in poor condition, and the infrastructure, such as irrigation and pumps, was nonexistent. Most of the orchards were also severely neglected by the time my father took over. Many of the trees were old, and had been pruned and planted incorrectly.”

ORCHARD RENEWAL

The 74ha farm has just over 17ha under orchards, of which 7,24ha are dedicated to apples and the balance to plums. The family’s primary focus over the past years has been to get the orchards sustainable again. This has entailed removing trees that are no longer economically viable, establishing new orchards, and grafting older trees to improve productivity.

Replanting has not been without its challenges.

“When we first started replanting, our production suddenly decreased from 372t of apples in 2018 to 253t in 2019. Our plum yield also showed a downward trend. Nonetheless, it was necessary as the older trees were bleeding the business dry,” says Siegels.