Media Releases
National farmer of the year
15 November 2006
Wildeklawer's Louis de Kock has been named National Farmer of the Year for 2006 by Agricultural Writers SA. The Northern Cape's nominee, he was awarded the title from amongst eight other provincial nominees.
Proud moment. National Farmer of the Year for 2006 Louis de Kock and his wife, Cora. With them are Agriculturalist of the Year Andrew Makenete and his wife, Cebile, and Nico van Burick, Chairman of Agricultural Writers SA. Photograph by courtesy of LandbouweekbladDownload larger image (Jpeg - 183KB)
Louis and his wife, Cora, traveled to Port Elizabeth for the prestigious awards ceremony. There, Louis shared centre stage with two other top award recipients, Andrew Makenete, General Manager of AgriBusiness at ABSA, who was named Agriculturalist of the Year, and Lina Mabaso from Mangweni in the Nkomazi district of Mpumalanga, who was named Developing Farmer of the Year.
Agricultural Writers SA was started by seven agricultural journalists in 1977 as the Agricultural Writers Association of South Africa. Today, the organisation has a membership of more than 200. From its inception, its constitution provided for the selection annually of a Regional and National Farmer and Agriculturalist.
According to the organisation, the motivation for its awards was "to give recognition to deserving farming and scientific agricultural merit that would inspire others to emulate the accomplishments of those persons singled out and, at the same time, to indicate what could be achieved with good planning and untiring application under all inds of conditions and environments".
This year's awards event was sponsored by Old Mutual and Mutual & Federal Agri.
A welcoming committee of Wildeklawer employees traveled from the farm at Barkly West to Kimberley Airport to welcome the De Kocks on their return from Port Elizabeth. Here, employee Ella Pape congratulates Louis on his National Farmer of the Year title. Photograph by courtesy of Die VolksbladDownload larger image (Jpeg - 45KB)