Farm-fresh ideas! Young agri writers make their voices heard in annual competition,
Six outstanding young agricultural writers have been honoured during the Young Agri Writers’ Competition 2023 – sponsored by Hollard, Farming Portal/Agri News Net and Agricultural Writers South Africa – in a field dominated by dynamic young women adding their voices to the national discourse on farming matters.
At a function hosted at Hollard’s Villa Arcadia, the following young agri writers were celebrated and their articles have been published on Farming Portal:
General category:
- Marguerite Pienaar (R5 000 winner)
- Artvilla Sanele Dakamela (R3 000)
- Michelle Marais (R2 000)
Technical category:
- Rachel du Preez (R5 000 winner)
- Christiaan de Jager/Pieter Gert Theron (R3 000 each)
- Christian Vercuil (R2 000)
The awards, now in their fourth year, were initiated by Hollard Insure’s National Business Development Manager and Head of Agri, Andries Wiese, and Johann Pretorius, CEO of CRA Media, which publishes Farming Portal/Agri News Net.
The competition aims to encourage writing about topical matters in the agriculture sector by young people aged 28 and younger – whether they are students, working in the sector or budding journalists who are not attached to a publication.
Said Wiese at the awards ceremony, “This is an acknowledgement of the ability of young people to convert their lived and learned experiences into a format that everyone can understand. Each of the winning articles touches on the importance of agriculture for our greater good – whether it’s about raising crops or pigs, or about feed and electricity.
“All are aimed at contributing to a better country, and the information they share adds value to Joe Public and those working in agriculture. I, personally, derive great pleasure from seeing the power of words enticing people to read – and for technical articles in particular, that takes a lot of doing.”
He urged the entrants to continue applying their skills to “change the world in which we’re living and working – for the better”.
Pretorius, a farmer for several years before venturing into agricultural publishing, said it’s vital to get young people’s voices and experiences heard, to enrich the body of knowledge in the sector.
“We have probably published about 60 articles over the three years the competition has been running, and we really appreciate the support and backing of Andries and Hollard in getting these fresh perspectives in agriculture out there and heard.”
Rachel du Preez, who works as a soil scientist at NWK in Lichtenburg, is a second-time winner in the Young Agri Writers’ Competition. She divides her time working out in the field and in the office, and declared during the prize-giving event, “I love what I do. I love soil science and I dig dirt!”
Du Preez, who studied Soil Science at the University of the Free State, added, “I enjoy putting my thoughts to paper and I enjoy the technical part of it – observing things that some farmers have done that worked, and then helping other farmers to understand and implement them in their own farming systems.”
Her winning article was about the benefits of using a top dressing or fertiliser on maize crops to improve your harvest.
Marguerite Pienaar, an agricultural economist at Grain SA who is also a master’s candidate, wrote her winning article about South Africa’s food security environment because “it bothered me that people don’t really ‘get’ what is meant by food security. It’s a very loaded topic – much more than just about being hungry or not – so I wrote it to get some visibility out there about what food security actually is. I’m very passionate about food security, about South Africa and about agriculture!”
University of Pretoria final-year Animal Science student Christiaan de Jager, who wrote about the importance of selection for higher teat numbers in sows to reduce piglet mortality, said, “This is the first article I’ve written. I spend a lot of time working with pigs and I’m actually going into the swine industry next year, working for a genetics company, so that’s why I decided to write the article.”
Michelle Marais, a project coordinator for Urban Farmer, has been competing in the Young Agri Writers’ Competition since its inception. She said, “It has influenced my career to a great extent. It’s a great platform to share your ideas.”
Beyond that, she believes it’s the ideal platform to scout for fresh young agri game-changers: “We have realised that this is the optimum place to look for talent when we are looking to employ young people. At this competition, you will find people who go above and beyond what was expected of them in the academic curriculum to seek a platform in the agricultural industry, so they have that extra bit of ambition, that extra bit of hard work and that extra charisma we’re looking for.”
The winning entries and runners-up may be read on Farming Portal.
