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Maphidianye Manoto, a grain and cattle farmer from Lichtenburg in North West, is honoured and delighted with what he has managed to achieve in agriculture thus far. His dedication and perseverance were recognised when he received the Grain SA (GSA) and John Deere Financial New Era Commercial Farmer of the Year Award for 2022.
Hard work pays off
Maphidianye says farming runs in his blood as both his grandfather and father were farmers. As a young boy, he would care for their cattle herd and would work the fields during school holidays. He later joined his father full-time. It was humble beginnings with dryland sunflower and maize plantings.
As their efforts paid off, the father-and-son team decided to buy the farm Lusthof. Maphidianye has in the meantime taken over the family farm and with his vision for the business and hands-on approach, he managed to put the operation on a new road of growth. In this regard, he firmly believes hard work was the path to his success.
Read more about the recent MPO Nedbank Stewardship Awards here.
The programme
The Manotos have been part of the GSA family since 2002 and have been part of the Farmer Development Programme for the past 15 years. Maphidianye is grateful for the programme which is aimed at the development of sustainable grain farming enterprises in South Africa. According to him, the programme has played a pivotal role in his progress as a grain farmer.
“You have to get information from others from time to time because farming is not easy, and you cannot claim to know everything about farming.” He appreciates GSA’s operational support on production as well as marketing aspects and is greatly appreciative of Du Toit van der Westhuizen, regional development manager of GSA, and his team.
Read more about the latest Agricultural Confidence Index report here.
Good yields despite challenges
Maphidianye also leases additional communal land for crop farming. As with most farmers in the area, drought and extreme heat conditions have taken their toll on soil and livestock production in previous seasons. However, things started looking up in the 2019/20 season.
Maphidianye managed to produce approximately 390 tons of sunflower, 720 tons of maize and 15 tons of small white beans. In the 2021/22 season, he planted 800ha of maize and harvested an average of 4,5 tons/ha. He also harvested sunflower (1,3 tons/ha) and dry beans (1,2 tons/ha.)
Livestock component
Maphidianye is also proud of his Bonsmara herd and aims to expand it. He says this component on the farm is also doing well. “I’m supplementing the farm with feed by making silage.”
Read more about the golden opportunity for the pork industry here.
He uses 20 tons of his maize harvest for animal feed, while the leftovers are baled. For more information, contact Maphidianye Manoto at 073 561 0553. – Christal-Lize Muller, AgriOrbit
