Emerging farmers gathered in Rustenburg for a day of practical insights on water, grazing, irrigation and breeding. One theme running through it was that informed decisions drive profitable, sustainable farming.
By Maile Matsimela, digital editor at African Farming
On 1 May, Dipilo Grow Experience presented the Nature Ventures Friday Knowledge Day at Mogro Lodge in Rustenburg, an initiative under the banner Venture Further, led by Mmadipilo Letlape.
The event brought together emerging and established farmers, scientists and industry specialists for a full day of knowledge-sharing, open discussion and networking.
The programme covered geoscience, smart irrigation, grazing management, cattle breeding, and farmer health and wellness. The message throughout was clear: Profitable, sustainable farming begins with knowledge.
Know Your Land Before You Farm It
Geophysicist Dr David Khoza urged farmers to understand what lies beneath their feet before they make any farming decision. Most borehole failures, he said, are not due to bad luck but to drilling blindly. Underground fault lines determine where water is found, and without geophysical mapping, farmers cannot know where to drill.
He told the story of a Northern Cape farmer who repeatedly drilled dry holes while a neighbouring farm yielded 10 000 litres per hour. After a geophysical mapping identified the correct drilling point, water was found within a week.
Using UAV drones, piloted aircraft and electromagnetic sensors, Khoza’s team maps soil fertility, clay content and groundwater structures. Even on a 5-hectare plot, soil conditions can vary every few hundred metres, meaning that treating a farm as uniform can result in wasted fertiliser and poor returns.
With South Africa’s agricultural market projected at US$21 billion, he encouraged emerging farmers to treat scientific data as their first and most important investment.
Also read: New climate-smart manual helps small-scale farmers cut water use and boost yields year-round
The Filter is Everything
Irrigation engineer Martin Bahnemann made a strong case for drip irrigation. In a KwaZulu-Natal sugarcane trial, conventional irrigation farming averaged 85 tonnes per hectare, whereas subsurface drip irrigation yielded 149 tonnes per hectare using significantly less water. During the 2017 drought, only the drip-irrigated fields survived.
The most critical factor, Bahnemann said, is filtration. A blocked drip emitter cannot be effectively cleared, leading to permanent system failure. His golden rule is to always install a red 130-micron filter before the drip line, and to clean it weekly using water only – never a stick or wire, which can damage the filter.
Quality systems, if properly maintained, can last 20 to 25 years. “A drip system is just like a car – maintain it, and it will serve you,” he said.
Also read: WATCH | Neo Brian Rasehlo explains the advantages of crossbreeding (Setswana and English)
Grazing Management: The Silent Productivity Killer
Agricultural advisor Neo Brian Rasehlo focused on five pillars of sustainable grazing: carrying capacity, rotational grazing, strategic fencing, water point placement and controlled burning.
Overgrazing removes the most productive grass species first, weakens root systems, exposes soil to erosion and encourages invasive species. Recovering degraded veld can take more than a decade.
Climate change is already reducing carrying capacity across South Africa due to irregular rainfall and rising temperatures. Farmers must respond with flexible stocking rates and improved water-harvesting infrastructure.
On supplementation, Rasehlo recommended phosphorus during the wet season for bone health, and protein in the dry season. “What you don’t measure, you cannot manage,” he said. His closing principle: “Healthy animals, profitable farming.”
Also read: Best of 2025 | Breeding excellence: Insights from passionate livestock farmer Tshepo Masweneng
Build the System Before You Buy the Animal
Simmentaler stud breeder Gert Nienaber shared a key lesson from his own experience: Appearance and show titles do not guarantee breeding success.
“In breeding, the question is not how good the animal looks. A show champion doesn’t necessarily breed for you – the photograph does not breed for you,” he said.
He used the example of a bull he bought that became a Bloem Show grand champion. He used the bull on his best cows over three seasons – through natural service, artificial insemination and embryo flushing – yet it produced only average offspring.
“Average is not a disaster, but for what I wanted to achieve, it wasn’t good enough. That bull taught me something very important: Real progress in breeding comes from proven bloodlines, not titles. When I go to an auction, the first thing I ask of any bull is, who is your mother? Is she still on the farm? The cow carries the gold. The bull just unlocks it.
“I believe in what the female can do. Cow lines are the foundation of everything. You can have the most impressive bull in the country, but if you don’t understand the cow line behind him, you are buying a photograph – not genetics.”
Nienaber prioritises balance, adaptability and cow lines when selecting cattle for breeding. His guiding principle: “First stabilise, then optimise. Fix the system, and the animals will work for you.”
He also stressed the importance of grazing management, noting that grass is not just feed – it is “decision insurance”. Farmers who overstock in good seasons are often forced, during drought, to sell their best breeding animals at low prices, setting their genetics back by years. Maintaining a feed buffer allows farmers to make strategic decisions rather than reactive ones.
Also read: Veld management tip: Know your grasses
