Regenerative Farming: When Agriculture And Technology Connect

Crowned as the Eastern Cape’s Agri SA Toyota Young Farmer of the Year in 2015, Paul Collett of Speelmanskop Farming in Cradock aspires to progressively build an environment with biologically balanced soil, radiant crops, productive livestock and fulfilled people.

- Carin Venter

Paul completed his MSc in Aquaculture at Rhodes University before returning to the farm. Following in the footsteps of his father, David Collett, who dedicated his 42-year farming career to restoring natural ecosystems and hydrating the landscape through strategic fencing and dam building, Paul has taken regenerative irrigation farming to the next level since taking the lead in the business in 2013.

“I like to encourage young farmers to participate in processes such as the Young Farmer competition, as it forces them to conduct an in-depth evaluation of their business,” says Paul during Stockfarm’s visit to the Karoo farm with its abundant veld and fast-growing pastures.

“Project evaluation leads to a thorough self-evaluation. I have learned about my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I was forced to work out policies and develop systems, spreadsheets, and algorithms. The real reward of participation comes from going through the valuable process of an in-depth business analysis, not from winning the prize that’s at stake.”

Emphasis on genetic make-up

Thanks to this introspection process, Paul realised that, although a passable livestock producer himself, he was more inclined to crop farming and that Speelmanskop needed a natural stockman to make effective use of resources.