Teamwork shifts dairy from subsistence to commercial operation

Community-owned Springfontein Dairy has grown from a small concern with 150 cows to a commercial enterprise with more than four times as many animals and a higher milk yield than the regional average. On a media trip hosted by Nestlé, Glenneis Kriel spoke to the people who have played a role in the farm’s success.

- Glenneis Kriel

Springfontein Dairy, part of Makhoba Farms and situated in the Swartberg region, is Nestlé's largest black-owned supplier of milk in South Africa, providing the company with about 11 000€ per day.

But achieving the dairy's commercial status was far from easy. Chief Ambrose Makhoba, leader of the Makhoba community, which owns Makhoba Farms, says it would not have been possible were it not for the help the community received from numerous individuals and businesses.

"We were committed to establishing commercial farming operations if we got our ancestral land back, but all of that was forgotten by the time we won our restitution claim in 2002.

"Each household at the time had one or two Nguni cows, which they milked by hand. The cows supplied ample milk for household consumption, so it was difficult to convince the people of the benefits of commercialising," explains Makhoba.

Insufficient economic activity and an inability to bond the 10 000ha also made it difficult to obtain loans from commercial banks to cover electricity and production costs, let alone investments in much-needed infrastructure to take the dairy from a subsistence to a commercial operation.

"It was hard to get commercial operations off the ground because of a lack of infrastructure, such as roads and fences. [In addition], low soil nutrient levels, a high prevalence of cattle diseases, periods of flooding that rendered pastures inaccessible, and summer droughts made dryland pasture cropping uneconomical," says Makhoba.

As a result, the community focused on strengthening beef production during the first few years on the farm.