Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Pretoria, 4 November 2022: The ninth edition of Plaas Media’s Santam Agriculture National Silage Competition was once again a huge success and yet again, a previous competition winner took the crown. Shane Simpson and his team at Simpson & Son Farming won the title for a second time with a maize silage bunker that took top honours in the maize category and overall. Dewald te Water of Exact Silage won the forage sorghum category with a silage bale, and Johan Zwiegelaar of Kadie Boerdery, a new entrant, came out tops in the oats category.
Plaas Media’s competition, which is presented annually under the banner of Veeplaas and Stockfarm, boasted 103 entries this time round – equal to the record entries received last year – along with two new sponsors.
This year’s sponsors
Santam Agriculture was once again the name sponsor of the 2022 competition and has already confirmed the continuance of their sponsorship in 2023. Santam Agriculture has been involved as a name sponsor since the competition’s inception and is a valued partner in the success of this project. Two new companies joined the sponsor-team this year – they are Pioneer Seed and TWK Agri.
As in previous years, several participating companies acted as prize sponsors for the overall winner, category winners, and second- and third-place candidates in the different categories. This year’s sponsors were Pannar Seed, Nutribase, Strapping & Profile, Kemin Industries, Pioneer Seed and TWK Agri. Labworld was the laboratory partner once again.
To be able to sponsor a prize, the sponsor must also actively participate in the competition by submitting competition entries from amongst its clients. Once 2023 sponsorships with existing prize sponsors have been confirmed, the sponsorship applications will be open to other companies. Be sure to keep an eye on our social media platforms for more information.
Watch the winners’ announcement on Plaas TV here.
2021 record entries matched in 2022
The 103 entries received this year consisted of 75 maize silage, 20 small grain silage (oats), five forage sorghum silage, and three other entries in the open category. A total of 22 companies and producers entered their customers or own farms.
Participating companies were Sentraal-Suid Co-operative, Nova Feeds / Quantum Foods, Kemin Industries, AFGRI Animal Feeds, BSure Insurance Advisors, EC Contracting, Exact Silage, TWK Agri, Boland Agri Solutions, Nutribase, Bridgewater Trading Trust, Budissa Bag, Sparta Taaiboschbult, Saxeni Holdings, Pannar Seed, Sparta Beef Marquard, Lake Agriculture, Meadow Feeds Natal, Pioneer Seed, Simpson & Son Farming, Strapping & Profile Manufacturers, and Stratford Farming.
As was the case last year, two companies – Sparta Beef and AFGRI Animal Feeds – continued their uninterrupted participation in the competition since the very first instalment nine years ago. We wish to thank these companies for their continuous support and loyalty.
The sampling process
Four students from different local universities –JG Els and Andries van der Merwe from the University of the Free State, and Jaydi Stemmet and Timothy Chilemba from the University of Pretoria – undertook the sampling. Richardt Venter from AGSCI Unlimited, one of the competition co-ordinators, trained the students beforehand in the sampling process.
The samples were yet again placed in the capable hands of Dr Elrisa Taljaard and her team at Labworld for analysis, and Prof Robin Meeske of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s Outeniqua Research Farm, analysed the data. He is the founder and patron of the competition protocol.
The winners
This year saw a competitive mix of new and previous entrants fighting it out for the top spots with bales included in the formal categories this year, provided they were entered in the maize, oats, or forage sorghum categories.
The forage sorghum category boasts a new winner for 2022:
- 3rd place: Pieter Hamman of Berg en Dal Boerdery, gravel wall bunker entered by AFGRI Animal Feeds.
- 2nd place: Marcu van Rensburg of Winterstorm Investments, cement wall bunker entered by Kemin Industries.
- 1st place: Dewald te Water of Exact Silage, a bale they entered themselves.
In the oats category, a new entrant claimed first spot:
- 3rd place: JK Basson of Ocean Breeze Holsteins, cement wall bunker entered by Quantum Foods / Nova Feeds.
- 2nd place: Johan Mostert of Dassenvaley, gravel wall bunker entered by AFGRI Animal Feeds.
- 1st place: Johan Zwiegelaar of Kadie Boerdery, gravel wall bunker entered by Kemin Industries.
The maize category saw a previous winner taking first place and another previous category and competition winner taking third spot, while a first-time silage bale took second place:
- 3rd place: Hano Lombard of Westend Landgoed, gravel wall bunker entered by Nutribase. Hano and his team at Westend Landgoed were also crowned category and overall winner in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
- 2nd place: Dewald te Water of Exact Silage, a bale they entered themselves. Dewald is also the winner of the forage sorghum category.
- 1st place: Shane Simpson of Simpson & Son Farming, gravel wall bunker they entered themselves. Shane was also the maize category winner and overall winner in 2020.
Read more about the silage competition here.
Congratulations to the winners in the various categories, as well as all the other the participants whose silage keeps improving markedly year after year. Be sure to purchase a copy of the December issue of Veeplaas and Stockfarm to read about the trends derived from this year’s competition data.
For more information regarding the 2023 competition as well as sponsorships, contact Deidré Louw on 066 231 2430 or deidre@plaasmedia.co.za.
