Dairy And Citrus Combine To Ensure Recipe For Success

Huguenot Farms in the Sundays River Valley is implementing a long-term, mixed farming strategy that will see its ‘beautiful soils’ produce to their full potential. Sabrina Dean visited the farm, where the Marais family has established a profitable combined dairy-citrus operation.

- Sabrina Dean

Huguenot Farms, established by brothers Charles and Stephen Marais in the 1970s, is one of only a few remaining mixed dairy citrus operations in the Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape.

Elsewhere in the area, most similar farms have converted entirely to higher-value citrus orchards. However, on this 228ha farm, the two farming divisions are managed to create a symbiotic relationship that allows the dairy and orchards to complement each other.

Stephen and Charles remain at the helm as board members of the business but have largely handed over the day-to-day management to the next generation. Stephen’s son, Stuart, is manager of the dairy while Charles’s son-in-law, Joe Pringle, serves as citrus manager.

Planning for the future required a major mind shift – the corporatisation of the family business structure – and a willingness by all to adapt. Both the dairy and the citrus divisions remain autonomous but answerable to the board, which consists of a representative of each of the three shareholders, as well as two external directors, to provide a balanced perspective. The family was assisted in the restructuring by Prof Elmarie Venter, a specialist in family businesses from the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth. The process has been arduous but is finally starting to bear fruit from vertical expansion and diversification.

EXTENDING THE CITRUS ORCHARDS

Joe, who has been with the business for six years, received a solid grounding in the citrus tree enterprise from Charles, his mentor. According to him, Charles’s knowledge and experience have been invaluable, and helped them to overcome challenges such as limited expansion capacity.