Farming is not seen as a glamorous job. There is no fixed monthly salary, no company pension or paid holidays and the farmer is at the mercy of nature’s elements. So, why would someone with a promising corporate career give it all up to farm?
Thobani Ntonga (41) did not consider farming as a career choice when he had to make a decision about his future. He chose a career in finance. While working as a financial advisor in Cape Town, he visited his family home in the Eastern Cape and farming chose him.
It is all about the lifestyle
‘While visiting my family, I saw an opportunity in farming. My dad, who was a trader, was buying produce in Kokstad which he then sold in the Cedarville area. I realised it was unnecessary to travel to buy something that we ourselves could plant as no-one in that area was growing vegetables.’ He started looking for a government farm and was fortunate to obtain a 181-ha farm, Hentiq, with 64 ha of arable land, of which 50 ha were under pivot irrigation. This made it possible for him to venture into crop farming, which would save his dad time and travelling expenses.
Thobani has been farming commercially since 2014 in their family-operated enterprise, Loto Greens. His father has always been involved in agriculture through livestock speculation, planting maize and doing contract work for the government. Although he was only assisting his father at the onset of their farming operation, he is now the operational manager who ensures that their crops and livestock receive the necessary daily attention.
‘I never intended to be a farmer – I just fell in love with the lifestyle,’ he says about his passion for farming. He finds that there is so much positive feedback on a farm. ‘To get feedback from whatever you do, is so satisfying. If you give your crops the necessary fertiliser, you can see the results. If your livestock are fed properly, you witness their growth and it just makes you feel good.’
Not even the unpredictability of farming dampens his enthusiasm. ‘It is difficult having a career where you can follow all the rules and still end up having a bad crop as result of variable weather conditions or when your neighbours’ livestock get out and destroy your hard work.’ Intimes like these he just feeds on the satisfaction that farming gives him.
A keen student
Thobani is eager to improve his knowledge and skills and seizes any opportunity to gain more information. He is a Grain SA member and regularly attends the study groups in the area. It is here where he crossed paths with Luke Collier, provincial coordinator of the Grain SA Farmer Development Programme at the Kokstad office. Luke has been instrumental in Thobani’s development as a farmer.
‘Through his mentorship, farm visits, advice and support I have gained a lot of confidence as a farmer.’
In 2018 he also entered the Syngenta SA and Grain SA Grain Academy to improve his skills and gain advice about best practices in agriculture. ‘I want to be associated with any programme that can make me feel more comfortable as a farmer,’ he said in an interview during the programme. The valuable contacts that he was introduced to were a bonus.
This father of three hopes that his two sons will share his passion as they have been exposed to agriculture from a young age. ‘I believe that the African youth can be motivated to engage in agriculture – whether it is farming or other careers in agriculture – through exposure from a young age. In the rural areas farming is done on a very small piece of land, mostly for own consumption. Commercial farming is something totally different.’
Learning through trial and error
As Thobani wants to be a good steward of his land and farm sustainably, he tries to learn as much as he can about best agricultural practices from whatever source is available or just by trial and error. For example, he learned the value of timeous planting on his own farm the hard way. Although he started off well, achieving 8 t/ha on dry land, only 6 t/ha were realised in their second season. ‘The years thereafter have been a bit of a disaster, achieving only 3 t/ha.’
The main reason for the drop in yield was late planting. ‘We have always had challenges, but a massive challenge has been outsourcing mechanisation. Issues with a funder also made access to funding problematic and we received our inputs late. All this led to late planting.’
He shares two valuable lessons with other farmers:
- Be prepared: ‘One of the shortfalls in my enterprise is that I go into a season “blind”. I am uncertain of inputs, all aspects of finance and who I will use for mechanisation. This leads to late planting. One of the biggest mistakes a crop farmer can make is planting outside the planting window period. If you plant late, you have already lost a huge part of your harvest.’
- Be a hands-on farmer: ‘There is no excuse for not being on the farm. You need to monitor your crop and livestock daily, because change is immediate. Farming can’t be done from a distance.’
