Young Farmers of the Year Western Cape and Mpumalanga
Farming is a vocation – and the commitment to the soil is worth every ounce of toil. That’s the message coming from the winners of the hotly contested Young Farmer of the Year contests in Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
Fourth-generation farmer Francois Rossouw cultivates table grapes on Mooigezicht Estates, a 300-hectare farm near De Doorns in the Western Cape’s Hex River Valley. In awarding him the title of Agri Western Cape Santam Young Farmer of the Year 2025, at a ceremony held in Paarl in June, Agri Western Cape CEO Jannie Strydom hailed Rossouw as a worthy ambassador for the province. Strydom singled out the “extraordinary balance between innovation and humanity” that characterises the young farmer’s approach to management, covering precision agriculture, technology, people development, and community engagement. Rossouw’s achievement is the kind of success story that inspires hope for the future of agriculture.
Growing up among the vineyards of the family farm, Rossouw studied agriculture at Stellenbosch University. After graduating, he spent a couple of years in Europe and the US before returning to take up a position at Mooigezicht.
Founded in 1928 by Rossouw’s great-grandfather Fanie, the farm today is made up of ten business units that produce 18 varieties of seedless grapes for export to markets in the UK, Canada, Europe, China, the US, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
In addition to production, the Mooigezicht agri business carries out its own marketing, logistics, and packaging.
Rossouw is responsible for five of the business units, including daily management and budgeting. Additional, overarching duties across the whole farm include soil preparation, irrigation, and spraying programmes. A large solar energy project is also in progress.
Some 40% of expenditure is related to labour costs. Table grapes are extremely labour intensive, and some 40% of expenditure goes to labour costs. There is a focus on the ongoing training and upliftment of workers. Although harvesting is mostly done by hand, there is still plenty of scope for technology, especially in the precise application of water and fertiliser to the various soil types on the farm.
In his acceptance speech at the award ceremony, Rossouw emphasised that the importance of agriculture in ensuring food security and raising the standard of living in rural communities.
As the winner, Rossouw will serve as an ambassador for organized agriculture and represent the Western Cape in the National Young Farmer of the Year competition later this year.
“The award gives me the opportunity to set standards and to be an example in our province, but also in our country, to show them what it takes to be a farmer, but also what it takes to be in agriculture to the next generation,” he said.
Sustainable cattle farming
Agricultural conditions are somewhat different in Mpumalanga compared to the Western Cape, but the challenge is all in a day’s work for Hendy-Hein Mathews. Growing up, the fifth-generation farmer swore never to get involved in agriculture, but today he works as livestock manager Janvos Landgoed, situated close to the Highveld watershed near Davel. There, he oversees commercial sheep and cattle operations, including the Boran stud division, and helps manage dairy unit.
For Mathews, success involves honestly acknowledging and confronting the challenges facing young professional farmers in South Africa, from policy issues such as broad-based black economic empowerment to high input costs and market volatility. In his case, the solution lies in a combination of collaboration, adaptability, and an approach to holistic sustainability that balances profits with social and environmental impact.
As part of this approach, Mathews uses the indigenous, non-selective grazing Boran breed to rehabilitate the veld by means of rotational grazing. Not requiring chemical intervention, Borans are able to thrive off the land.
In terms of social impact, Mathews believes that people perform at their best when they feel valued. In a bid to create that environment, he seeks to foster empowerment, skills development, and personal growth.
When it comes to return on investment, Mathews’ business model extracts value from seven product categories that his herd yields up: weaner calves, C-grade meat, A-grade meat, commercial breeding cows, commercial bulls, and stud cows and bulls.
