If there is one thing that Shadrack Mbele (56) has learned since he started
farming, it is the importance of perseverance and adaptability as a farmer. With farming being inherently exposed to various challenges – droughts, floods, pests, diseases, and market volatility – perseverance allows him to weather these storms. It has also taught him to adapt his agricultural practices to minimise losses and ensure continued production.
Shadrack started out as a teacher and then moved on to the taxi industry. However, when the taxi industry in the eastern Free State faced unrest, he was persuaded by his father and wife to rather venture into farming. As his father, Ephraim Mbele, was already a farmer at the time, getting the farming business off the ground was not that difficult.
The father and son duo bought Danielsrus, a farm between Kestell and Harrismith, partly with funding they received through the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme (LRAD). Here they decided to stop dairy farming and rather venture into crop farming.
Ephraim passed away in 2012 and Shadrack has been farming on his own since then. He is extremely grateful to Grain SA, VKB and neighbouring producers who helped develop his skills to become successful as a crop farmer. ‘I developed as a farmer from the advice Grain SA offered.’ It was Grain SA that advised Shadrack to expand his farming operation and not just plant one crop. ‘When I started diversifying it brought extra income which I could put back into the business.’
Today Shadrack has a mixed farming operation. Apart from his Simbra cattle, he grows maize, soybeans and sugar beans in a crop rotation system. He diversifies his income stream with contract work – preparing land, planting, and spraying crops with his drone.
At the 2025 Grain SA Congress, Shadrack was elected as a Grain SA Board member for Region 31. He is looking forward to serving his area in this capacity. ‘I must make sure that I sell the idea of Grain SA to the farmers in my region,’ he says.
To this former chairperson of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) in the Free State, it is very important that farmers realise the value of organised agriculture. ‘Nobody is an island. We need each other because we can learn from each other – from our neighbours, other countries, and the different organised agricultural organisations.’
He also believes that a farmer should be part of organised agriculture as it offers learning opportunities that can help to improve your farming operation. ‘In organised agriculture we have to approach challenges and problems with one voice. We can face the challenges we are confronted with together and the different groups can find simpler solutions for the challenges.’
Although he received an award for distinguished and exemplary leadership in the agricultural sector in 2019, Shadrack sees the purchase of his first new tractor in 2016 as the biggest achievement in his farming career to date.
SHADRACK’S STORY
What is the best and worst part of a farming business?
The best thing is that farming offers you the opportunity to never stop learning. Apart from bringing in revenue, you learn how to adapt to each season’s challenges and of course you get to learn about amazing new technology. The worst thing is the climate that is ever changing as well as the crime – not just livestock theft but also the theft of our grain.
Do you have a succession plan in place?
I am very pleased to see that Busisiwe, my daughter, is interested in farming. Just as I learned from my father, she is learning the ropes from me. She helps on the farm when she is home from university and is really interested in what I do.
FARM FACTS
Name: Danielsrus
Nearest town: Harrismith
Region: Free State
Size: 226 ha (planting 60 ha and leasing additional land)
Type of farming operation: Mixed – crops (plants maize, soybeans and sugar beans in crop rotation system) and livestock (Simbra cattle)
PGP’S CONTRIBUTION
- Joined Grain SA in 2010
- Maluti study group
- Member of 250 Ton Club
