Being a successful farmer does not come from knowing everything, but from being willing to learn from your peers and take advice from experienced farmers.
That is why the 2022 winner of the Toyota Young Farmer of the Year in the Eastern Cape, Morne Fitzhenry, believes his new title belongs to the entire Aberdeen community and not to him alone.
“Over the years I have taken advice from one farmer, stolen an idea from another, and tweaked all the bits and pieces I learnt to create my own system that has landed me in the fortunate position I am in today.
“Yes, I put in a lot of hard work, but the support of my family and my community helped me build something truly special,” Fitzhenry, 34, said.
Over the past 15 years, the fourth generation merino farmer from Hartebeeshoek Farm, 25km outside Aberdeen, put the knowledge he acquired to good use and built the family farm into a thriving business.
“I always joke that I learnt to farm in a pub.
“I’d walk in, find one of the old farmers, buy him a drink, and before long he started sharing farming secrets,” Fitzhenry said.
“I never needed to travel the country to find the best farmers, I had all the advice and mentors I needed right here in Aberdeen.”
At the age of 15, while attending Marlow Agricultural High School in Cradock, his father, Eric, died.
Fitzhenry’s mother stepped in to take ownership of the farm, appointing farm managers to look after day-to-day operations, until 2008 when he returned to take up the reins.
“My grandfather, who runs the family trust that owns the farm, threatened to sell the land as it wasn’t being operated effectively.
“I matriculated in 2006 and dropped out of university in 2008 to return to the farm full-time.
“It was tough, and getting the farm back on track was not easy, but it was a challenge that I had to overcome and I don’t regret my decision even for one second.”
The road ahead was a difficult one.
The first major hurdle he faced was settling into his new profession.
Being only 20, Fitzhenry had a tough time securing loans to get the farm back on track, resorting to selling scrap metal to fund his farming operation.
But over time he steadily rebuilt the farm his father left behind.
His second major hurdle was surviving one of the worst droughts in living memory.
Already an arid landscape, Aberdeen became nearly unlivable between 2014 and 2021, but Fitzhenry believes farmers that made it to the other side came back stronger than ever.
“In 2020 I still had hope. I told one of the field agents visiting my farm that I can still make money in this desert.
“But in 2021 it almost became too much to handle.
“I remember walking into the shops in town and seeing the look of depression and hopelessness on the faces of my fellow farmers.
“But now the picture looks totally different and we have hope again.”
Fitzhenry and his wife, Anke, along with their two-year-old son, Eric, and three-month-old daughter, Cara, rear 3,000 merino ewes on the 6,889ha of land he inherited, and an additional 2,500ha that he bought in 2016.
He said the nomination for Farmer of the Year came from someone in his farmers’ association, and he was happy for the opportunity to represent his region’s livestock farmers.
He was a finalist against Dries Pienaar, from Molteno, and David Fletcher, from Bedford — two farmers Fitzhenry holds in very high regard.
“I always felt I could do well in the competition, until I saw the other finalists,” Fitzhenry said.
“I was really nervous and excited to be measured against two young farmers whom I respect so much.
“Had I lost to either of them, I would not have been disappointed, they deserved it just as much as I did.”
He will go up against his competitors from the other eight provinces for the national title in November.
“I will be in the company of some massive farming operations and I can’t wait.
“I would like to win, but just rubbing shoulders with farmers of that calibre validates my years on the farm, the work my family put into it, and the support of my entire community.
“I am not a one-man show, this opportunity is for the entire Aberdeen community,” Fitzhenry said.
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