There is a certain sense of symmetry between the Free State town of Edenville and Agricultural Writers SA’s 2019 Farmer of the Year, Nick Serfontein. Nick grew up on the farm Liebenbergstroom approximately 8km out of town and matriculated at the local high school.
The town was home to and played an integral role in his early development. Today, some seven decades later, Nick, through his Sernick Group, plays an important role in his old hometown, both in terms of infrastructure maintenance as well as job creation. In 2019 the Sernick Group recorded a turnover of R1,5 billion, providing jobs to 615 people. The Group has a direct and indirect impact on the lives of 14 500 people.
From engineer to farmer
Nick was born in 1948 and enjoyed a typical rural upbringing of that time on the farm. When it became time to choose a career, his parents persuaded him to not go into agriculture – instead, he studied engineering at the University of Pretoria. Over the years he built a very successful career as a consulting engineer, but in his heart he remained a farmer. In 1983 he bought his first farm, Vredeverwag, together with 30 commercial Bonsmara heifers and a bull. In the same year he registered the Sernick Bonsmara stud.
It did not take him long, however, to realize that in order for his farming venture to survive, given the ever-increasing gap between input costs and commodity prices, he would have to change his approach and restructure his operation. The options, he realised, were either to buy more land, produce more on the same land, diversify, or to add value.
Taking the bull by the horns
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