 We always wanted to get into farming but just didn't know where to start. Well, don't worry, because private property's got you. My name is Malinwoko and I am a farmer and I'll be bringing you a fresh new farming series brought to you by Private Property every Tuesdays and Thursdays where we discuss all things farming related. I'm talking where to find land, what infrastructure to invest in, even how to decide which crop to grow. You name it. You don't want to miss this. So be sure to catch the first episode premiere of the Private Property Farming podcast with me on Tuesday, 6th of October, 1pm. See you there. And also please feel free to share, comment, like the video and also tell us about your favorite episodes that you have had or enjoyed right here on the Farming podcast. But firstly, to get the important stuff in, I just want to mention that we have the Real Estate Industry Summit brought to you by Private Property in partnership with APSA, which is taking place on the 29th of October. So for all the private, sorry, for all your property lovers, this is a wonderful opportunity to expand your real estate knowledge and expertise and yes, some of the most influential players in the property sector. So this is a virtual event, so be sure to tune on into Facebook on the 29th of October from 9am to 1pm. The link to the event will be in the comment section and also you can get further details on our website and the details are also available on the show description or you can visit www.realestateindustrysummit.co.za and so like I said, you know, you are joining us for a very special episode, which is episode 100 of the Private Property Farming podcast and just to think back, the Farming podcast, you know, started out as a mere idea and I remember it's quite nervous on the first episode because we weren't sure, you know, how you at home would consume this content around farming and how would how you'd respond to the information that's provided. And I remember the first episode was around finding land because that was one of the most frequently asked questions when we started this podcast and also remember that we started in the midst of lockdown in the global pandemic. So, yeah, it's been quite a journey and we're happy to know that, you know, the show has progressed and we've got a bit of engagement. We've got a lot of likes. We've got a lot of interest from people wanting to know more. And as a person, I definitely grew more confident in sharing my journey as a farmer, speaking to guests, day, week in, week out and knowing that people really do care about agriculture and farming and people want to know a lot more information. And like I said, you know, we've got more likes, we've got more traction. And I think we've gained quite a good momentum to where we are right now. Again, this is episode 100. I love that the show has become more dynamic and that we get to share stories and journeys from various farmers, from various professionals across the industry with many walks of life. And it's become such a collaborative platform and an informative space that I could not have asked for anything better. Just remember that we do have a competition running called Know Your Crop. It is still on. And tonight, two people will walk away with 500 red cash prize each. So in order to stand a chance to win or you have to share this specific live video and comment on any crops or health benefits that you may have. And we will select the winner at the end of the show. Basically, so Know Your Crop competition, you're winning 500 grand. And how you stand a chance to win is to share this specific live video and comment on this specific live video about any proper health benefits that you know of and will definitely announce your name. So the team in the back end will be looking out for all your comments and for all your engagement behind the scenes and will announce your name if you are the winner. So just to start off with, before we introduce our guests, I want to mention that I'll be sharing three of my top favorite moments from the Conversations on the Farming podcast. And the one that I could think of, which is the first, the top three, the third one in the list is one that we recently had. And it's Episode 97, where we've had the topic was Wagyu Bee Farming. And we've had two young entrepreneurs, two gentlemen, by the name of Devin Wells and Haley Kloper, who told us about their Wagyu Bee Farming business. What particularly stood out for me is that, you know, they started this business in the global pandemic. They pretty much innovated and transformed their parents' farms, which are both livestock farmers, and they put an online element into this farming activity where they're predominantly focused in livestock. So what they're selling is Wagyu Beef online and, you know, they've grown immensely. They've got a number of orders. I think they've reached their target and are really going much further, you know, in terms of the goals that they want to reach in getting more customers across each province. And, you know, they've got good partnerships that they've connected with and they're getting a lot more orders. And what's special about their business is that they're selling Wagyu Beef, which is a premium product. And I like how they explained the process of, you know, taking the cattle into the abattoir and what goes behind that meat production process before it gets delivered to your door. And another sweet spot in their business is that, you know, they are able to give you a recipe on how to cook Wagyu Beef so that it tastes succulent and sweet and that you enjoy your meal, you know, because it is quite a niche beef variety that they have going. So check out Devon Wells and Henning Globa on Episode 97, which is Wagyu Beef Farming. Let's get on to today's guest and his name is Darvi Fissa, who's not a stranger on to the show and he's currently working as an agri-specialist consultant. Darvi is running two projects, one in Ermelo, which is a grain farm and a cattle farm and another one in Komati Burj, which specializes in vegetable and citrus farming. Darvi, thank you so much for having you back. How are you doing? Molly, yes, good evening. Thanks for having me again. It's a pleasure and I'm quite honored to have you back on to the show, especially on such a great milestone that we're celebrating today. So today's topic is all about crop production systems and nutritional farming practices or nutritional health. And, you know, I think it's quite an opportune time to discuss this, especially around sustainable crop production systems because what we have in the industry right now is that a lot of the input prices have gone up. You know, they say fertilizers have gone up by 60%, kind of squeezing the farmer's margins and a lot of farmers are doing panic buying fertilizers in advance because, you know, there are delays in getting fertilizers from abroad. So I want to know from your perspective and what you've been seeing on the ground for the past two, three or a month, past two, three weeks or a month, what have you picked up with regards to the agri-industry and what prices are concerned? And where should farmers look out for? And most importantly, with these red flags, if you may, how can we start farming more sustainable? Mbali, yeah, I think everyone... I think it came as a bit of a shock in the last three months, the input cost in South Africa is a tremendous rise in the cost and the inputs that farmers need to face. Fertilizer, we're talking seed and talking diesel, fuel costs. And we're expecting quite a huge increase in fuel next week already in South Africa. I mean, planting season is starting and it started in the northern part of South Africa and in the Western Cape, they're going to start harvesting the wheat. So it really comes at a very tough time. And also on the demand side, the marketing side, we don't see that huge demand. There's not only are we seeing pressure on prices in selling the product, but also in the input price. So it's going to be tough times ahead of us. But yeah, the world is changing. The world will keep on changing. It's how we adapt to it. I think that's the important thing. And I think your topic is very valid tonight about sustainability. And that's where we need to get around the table and start making events. Absolutely. So what are some initiatives that we can start adopting as farmers? Do we cut down on our fertilizer consumption? Do we move in the more organic way? And I know sometimes this is such a contested topic because when you're farming commercially with thousands and thousands of hectares, you really want to meet your tonnage per hectare. And especially as a maize farmer, you might know this. And so what are some of the innovative solutions that we could go around this and curb these high prices in input costs? Bolly, what we've picked up in the more consultable area where we're currently running a project on a farm there is that in the area there seems to be quite a lot of farmers that's converting from maize into swayers. The big idea behind that is that your input cost, especially from a fertilizer point of view, your need for fertilizer is much, much less on the swayers than what you have on maize. And what a lot of swayer farmers have been doing in the last few years, and I think it's a standard, it's probably been a standard practice, it was new for me. But I mean, they keep seed back from the previous year. So immediately, if you don't need to pay for your seed, if you can keep some of your crop back from the past year and use it for seed for the following year and your demand for fertilizer is less, your input cost tremendously comes down tremendously. Obviously you still have your running cost on implements and fuel that will never change and your labor cost will never really change. But I mean, if you probably look at the cost now, you'll see that fertilizer and see this makes up probably about 60% of your production cost currently. If you look at maize and if you would look at maize. So yeah, there's good alternatives. Yeah, so I think that's the kind of things that farms are actually doing. Trying to look at alternatives. We've even got a little project going where we say, well, let's plant a bit of cash crops, some vegetables. While we're just after we finish planting our swerves and our maize, if we have some time left on the farm and we have some resources left, let's develop 10 or 20 hectares of cabbages as a bit of a cash crop to help us on the cash from a cash flow point of view as well. And to carry some crops from the farm. There's no reason why you can do it. On that specific farm there is some water. The Arimula region is fairly well known for good wheat summers. And obviously that's going to assist with growing some vegetable crops on that farm just to help the cash flow. So I think what you've done in the past is not necessarily what you're going to do in the future. You need to look at alternatives. And what else can you do to sustain the farm and obviously increase your turnover on the farm. You have the resources, you have the tractors. A farmer working with maize and swerves, obviously he's not going to be busy full time with all his staff 12 months a year. There is definitely some opportunities to do a few other projects on the farm as well and try and see what they can do to increase your turnover on the farm. Yeah, and obviously cash crops are quite nutritional and I know that you're quite close to the market in understanding market prices and trends. Which kind of cash crops right now are getting good prices at the markets and which cash crops are maybe suffering at the stage? Yeah, from a vegetable point of view we see there's quite a lot of onions around the market. I think it's got a lot to do with the demand but that's not the... Butternut says that it had a very good run with prices on butternut. It's coming down quite quickly. Potatoes also had a good run on the market in the last two months. That's also coming down. But still to a level where it's not bad at each prices to have. Most farmers will take those prices any day on potatoes selling for 55, 60 grand or 10 kilo pocket, which is a great price. Obviously coming into summer we're seeing with the good rain they're forecasting for South African and the northern parts of South Africa. A lot of rain doesn't necessarily mean it's not good news for vegetable farmers. We might see some prices on certain crops your cabbages and things like that. That's susceptible to diseases, tomatoes, things like that. When we have a lot of rain probably December and January some of those crops might increase. But again, everyone's going to be affected if we're going to have a wet season. That might definitely influence the prices going forward. Obviously the Western Cape had a very good rain season that just passed and those farmers will be in a better position where they probably won't have rain in the Western Cape. That's an ideal opportunity for some Western Cape vegetable farmers to look at crops like peppers, tomatoes, and more high-evaluable crops. As we've seen for the window in January and February and March when we normally have a lot of rain in the British area, in Lampoko and Northwest Britain will normally struggle with certain crops because of weather. We saw it earlier this year and you're probably going to see it again next year. Absolutely. Those are very valid points because I've definitely experienced those seasons. Before I ask you to carry on with our conversation, I just want to encourage people that they need to share this live video and comment below on any crop health benefits so that you can have something to celebrate in this very special episode of the Farming Podcast as we've reached a milestone episode of Episode 100. Please do comment and tell us what crop do you know and what's its health benefits so that you can win your 500 grand in cash prize. So we do have a team that's on standby that's looking at some comments right now and we definitely want to announce a winner. So come on, guys. Please do engage with us. Send us comments on the comment sections and let us know about your crop so that we could announce your name and that you could win 500 grand in cash prize. Darvi, you mentioned something about the RAND exchange at the moment and that if you're a farmer another way to make a farm sustainable especially around crop production but this is on the selling part is that you should look across the borders because of prices at the moment. What are the type of favourite crops that are in demand from an export level? Barley, if you're going to have a look where all the growth in South Africa was from in the last, say, 10 years, you've definitely seen citrus as being a big mover in South Africa. I think it's important just to touch on that point that you mentioned about the crop and the cost. It's the fact that we are net importers of agricultural inputs in South Africa. So we're actually farming in dollars or our inputs is dollar-based inputs. Now if you're only going to sell your crop locally and earn RANDs from it obviously you're going to start getting into a position where you can't cover all your costs. And I think part of the success in the citrus industry was that even though the input base the inputs are all dollar-based but the income from those farmers from the export point of view was also dollar-based. So they could actually absorb all those extra costs and additional costs that they had to attain for. There's huge exciting opportunities happening in China for us I believe the lemon citrus market is expanding into into China. The avocados is not too far away from the exports into China. A lot of our berries and nuts the berries and nuts they're also getting into China the demand in China seems to be fairly strong and keeps on growing and it gives great opportunities for southern farmers. Because we're in the southern hemisphere where we count the season to what's happening in China the demand for our crops is going to be exactly when they don't have it in their own market. So I think the growth is probably going to be and where farmers need to look is on the export crops, the berries, the nuts and the fruits that seems to be exciting markets. Jerry's is doing fairly well from southern Africa there's some exciting projects that deal with that. Are there exciting things that we saw in Erbil or I mean I never knew it but Erbil is one of the most apple production areas in South Africa now you are associated with apples with the Western Cape but there's no reason why you can't have early apples out of Erbil. It's really great opportunities for farmers in that region to diversify obviously the input cost and your return on your investment takes a bit longer on fruits fruits and nuts and berries it's not as quick as a cash crop but it definitely creates some opportunities for farmers. Oh wow that's interesting. Apples in Puma Langa which is relatively known as the high-fold regions that correct? That's correct yes but I think they get enough cold units out there. There might be even opportunities for things like berries out of that same region. Because the cold units it's cold enough out of the Erbil region, my Puma Langa region it's cold enough. I also believe there's some exciting work being done on early low demand apples that's actually been grown in the Popo. There's definitely been some developments in the Mokupani region with some early apples as well and in the Pudupani region. So yeah I think things are changing. We need to change with the times. Absolutely changing with the times and if you're listening tonight drop some serious gems on the different types of crops you could start growing so that you could get a good return on investment within your farm and also some, he also shared some tips in terms of how you can make a farm sustainable with very high rising input costs at the moment but quickly Darvi, before we end our conversation this evening, I just want to mention that without wasting any time, our first winner is Bianca Combs and she is from Facebook so congratulations to you Bianca but you have to comment before the end of the show so that you could win your 500 cash prize tell us anything about your crop, what have you planted what is it that you like about it nutritional benefits, health benefits so please Bianca comment before the end of the show so that you could claim your 500 grand cash prize and as I said in the beginning that I'm sharing some of my best moments from the show and the second episode or the second favorite episode that I enjoyed was having a farmer named Ceylon Diwet Numalo from Isimbabende Farming Inc. and she's a chicory farmer if you don't know what chicory is, google it but in simply put she's a coffee farmer and it's not every day that you meet a coffee farmer, chicory does sound very niche and complicated to grow and what I like about her is that she's a new farmer into the space and she thoroughly is enjoying what she's doing she's had corporate partnerships where the corporate client has not only given her an off-take agreement but also has given her some technical knowledge and how to grow chicory to the highest standards within her region she shares such an amazing journey from humble beginnings and how now she's successfully growing chicory and trying various alternative methods to increase her production year after year so that was episode 49 a young female farmer base and her name is Ceylon Diwet Numalo and I remember we also had her back on to a panel discussion around women in farming or so and she had some really really good advices for women in farming, for young women in farming and especially women in her region and how they can gain access to this thriving industry, wonderful industry and most importantly how to just grow your farming enterprise so Darvi before we let you go I just want to know I know you mentioned a few tips earlier on in terms of how farmers can hedge against these high prices and we focus more on crop farming but any advice that you could give to farmers maybe who are livestock farmers who are also saying feed is going up they could have heard you say diesel is going up and the transport costs from transporting feed from one place to another is also expensive so what tips can you give to livestock farmers maybe to cut down costs to farm more sustainably do they start growing their own maize, do they start growing their own feed do they research that maybe just if you could give us some few tips before we end the show with you tonight yeah I think Maroli the first thing that comes to mind in a wett year that we're expecting this summer and we already started seeing early rains in certain regions in South Africa from Popo and Makumalanga it creates opportunities for especially cattle farmers to go and plant some extra feed so you can start building your feed reserves for winter now obviously the maize farmers I can only imagine that they will keep on looking and buying more animals for the winter to eat to keep from their rest so yeah I think the weather is going to be enough over this year for things like pastures and for feed, for animal feed so make use of the opportunity we don't always we're not always going to have this great opportunity free water so yeah use it yeah thank you so much Dovi for your insights today and thank you once again for being a friend of the farming podcast we thoroughly enjoy your knowledge and expertise and it's great that we know that there are agri-specialists and consultants like yourself who are willing to share some knowledge because farming can be a very lonely journey because we have to deal with so many elements as we run our day to day businesses but thank you for your time this evening and all the best with your two projects in Ermelo and Gommar Dubert good evening it's a pleasure that was Dovi Fisso who is an agri-specialist consultant and is running two projects within Ermelo and Gommar Dubert grain and cattle farming as well as vegetable and citrus so we really spoke about sustainable methods around crop production systems and also some nutritional benefits and obviously for farm vegetables and citrus those are definitely nutritional crops to have in your farm and what I like is that to also share some valuable tips for not only crop farmers but also for livestock farmers and how you can really be innovative and try to cut down costs in your farming operations now to more exciting years as well my team has just let me know that our winner Bianca Komp has claimed her prize so congratulations to you and her comment what I could read it was that soybeans are high in protein and are a decent source of both carbs and fat they are rich in source of vitamins minerals and beneficial compounds so for this reason regular soybean intake may alleviate symptoms of menopause and reduce risk of prostate and breast cancer who would have thought so thank you so much Bianca Komp for your comment and for your insight as well and she puts the hashtag episode 100 the farming podcast hashtag know your crop so thank you so much Bianca and you walk away with 500 grand in cash prize before I announce the second winner of the show this evening I just want to mention my last favorite episode of the top three that I've mentioned tonight I started with waggy bee farming which is episode 97 and then told you about episode 49 where I spoke to Ceylon Diwe and the last one I've got picked up here and just by the way this is not me choosing any specific favorites but you know I enjoyed all the farming podcast because you get to speak to just amazing people that we have in this industry of ours and I think the one that also stood out for me is Uzzamugul Ketwala from Agri Cool he started farming on his I'm not sure if it was his own backyard or on a small plot but you know really struggled as the time went by to just keep abreast of the costs involved in farming and also he saw an opportunity in the market where a lot of farmers were really desperate to find market and he thought maybe let me quit farming and rather help the farmers that already exist in the industry by helping them find market so he definitely uses skills and talents of selling and marketing and that's how he founded Agri Cool and I know a couple of weeks after having him onto the show he had won a significant prize with a competition that was running with a JSE listed company and yeah I think he walked away with about one million rands and I'm sure that was extremely beneficial to his business and Agri Cool has become one place where a lot of farmers are now relying on just to get their produce out to consumers so look out for Agri Cool on social media and maybe if you're a farmer and are struggling with market maybe reach out to the Agri Cool team and see how they could market your product so as the show comes to a close I'm happy to announce the second winner and I believe they're also from a Facebook and it's great to know that the second winners the two winners tonight are females and the second winner of tonight's show is Tembi Maryland and her comment was rise health benefits may help maintain a healthy weight brown rice protects against chronic diseases hashtag know your crops, hashtag episode 100 and hashtag farming podcast thank you so much Tembi for commenting please you walk away with 500 rand cash prize and yeah that's as simple as that you know this was your know your crop farming competition that we have running will you tell us about the crop that you're currently growing all that you know of it's nutritional benefits it's crops benefits and why you like that crop specifically thank you so much for joining us this evening both our winners Bianca and Tembi have now signed their prizes and that you that they walk away with 500 rand so thank you so much for watching our 100 episode and we look forward to the next 100 episodes within the farming podcast maybe we might do a bit of a spin-off you know have more engagements more panel discussions maybe be more on the field who knows but send your comments and suggestions if you would like to see some more dynamic content on the farming podcast because at the end of the day this podcast is for you to equip you and empower you with farming and aggregate knowledge that's it from me tonight and yeah look out for our episode on Thursday and I will see you then take care