OVERVIEW Agriculture The
OVERVIEW Agriculture The newly expanded VKB Group covers all provinces. An injection of R10-million by the Free State Provincial Government is intended to revitalise the deciduous fruit sector. The Remmoho Agri-Investment Project will construct a juice-manufacturing plant that will export its product. Approximately 400 jobs are expected to be created over a threeyear period. The Entrepreneurial Development Programme has employed 120 graduates for a two-year period within the agricultural sector while steps are being taken to involve youth, women, people with disabilities and military veterans in agricultural activities by allocating provincial or municipal land to them. In the five-period period between 2019 and 2024, the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) facilitated 19 023 export certificates and rehabilitated 29 419ha of land. The cultivation of 987ha using conservation practices is intended to increase the production of organic products. The Integrated Vrede Dairy Project, which was in the news for all the wrong reasons during the period of State Capture, has been handed over to a trust representing the rightful owners. The trust has a majority share in the project, which has received 583 dairy animals from the provincial government to help them get started. The provincial government is also taking the initiative in promoting cannabis as an agricultural product of the future. Six sites have been identified at Bethlehem, Ficksburg, Kroonstad, Viljoenskroon, Wesselsbron and the Glen Agricultural Training Institute, which will be used as a research site. The Glen Agricultural Training Institute is a public institution of the DARD and specialises in the higher and further education training band. The campus comprises nearly 4 600ha. The Modder River runs to the south of the site, with the Renosterspruit as tributary. Five agri-parks are being constructed in each of the Free State’s district municipalities. The concept brings together farmers, traders and agro-processors at convenient sites. Support for rural smallholders will be available in terms of equipment hire from a central source, storage facilities, packaging of produce and getting products to market. SECTOR INSIGHT Graduates are being exposed to the sector. As part of the agri-parks programme a warehouse is under construction at Springfontein and the Thaba Nchu abattoir is being upgraded. In Sediba, Farmer Production Support Units supplied a tractor and implements to participants. Private companies The consolidation of agricultural services took a further step in 2023 with the creation of the VKB Group, whose silos are pictured. The merger with GWK has given the group an extensive presence in the three Cape provinces while NTK covers Limpopo and the northern parts of Mpumalanga. The historical home of VKB, namely the eastern Free State, is still a strong region for the company whose headquarters are located in Reitz, and the VKB brand covers the balance of the provinces. The new company announced a R608-million normalised profit in 2024 (pretax) and reported that most of FREE STATE BUSINESS 2025 30 PHOTO: alexandarlittlewolf/Freepik
OVERVIEW the procedures for bedding in new systems for the merged entity had been completed. Investment in solar energy at some of the company’s facilities is planned. Before the merger, VKB was already a diverse group, with the capacity to produce soybean meal and soybean cake and flour from its plants, mills and factories. Grain Field Chickens, a large abattoir in Reitz, is one of the company’s biggest facilities in the province. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which has a 23% stake in the project, aims to help develop the Free State as the poultry hub of South Africa. VKB has six agro-processing companies including VKB Flour Mills and Free State Oil and is active in auctioning, storage, packaging and fuel sales, among other activities. The SASKO Bethlehem Mill has a total of 96 employees and mills 144 000 tons of wheat every year. Bethlehem was chosen because of its proximity to excellent wheat-producing areas and for its strategic location in terms of logistics: the busy N3 freeway is just 90km away. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has plans to double volumes of grain transported out of its Bethlehem facility. The Imbani Homsek Group is an integrated dairy-products producer with one of the biggest Ayrshire herds in the world. The head office of Country Bird Holdings is in Bloemfontein: its brands are Supreme Chicken, Nutri Feeds and Ross (breeding). Country Bird Logistics controls 45 chilled and frozen vans. Dairy producer Clover has three factories in the Free State: Frankfort, Heilbron and Bloemfontein, where yoghurt is made. The provincial capital is also a distribution hub for Clover, as is Welkom. Bothaville hosts the country’s largest agricultural festival, NAMPO Harvest Day. Bothaville falls under the North West in the organisational ONLINE RESOURCES Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agri.za Bothaville: www.bothaville.info Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: www.ard.fs.gov.za Grain SA: www.grainsa.co.za chart of giant agricultural company Senwes, which has its headquarters in Klerksdorp. The rest of the Free State is divided into three regions by Senwes, which deals with about 20% of the country’s oilseeds and grain through its 68 silos. The province supplies significant proportions of the nation’s sorghum (53%), sunflowers (45%), potatoes (33%), groundnuts (32%), dry beans (26%), wool (24%) and almost all of its cherries (90%). Red meat and dairy are other important products. Game hunting is a significant sector, and several large Free State farms have been converted from stock to game farms. Crop production represents about two-thirds of the province’s gross agricultural income. The main crops are maize and wheat. Sunflowers, sunflower seeds, sorghum and soy beans are other major crops. The Mangaung Fresh Produce Market plays a vital role in the sector, catering as it does to householders, bulk buyers, informal traders, agents and farmers. ■ PHOTO: VKB Group 31 FREE STATE BUSINESS 2025
