Wilmar Adams - A young farmer filled with sheer determination
Introduction
Farming close to nature, according to Conservation Agriculture principles, is a long-term project. For Wilmar Adams, a 35-year old farmer in the Suurbraak area in the Western Cape, South Africa, it has meant sacrificing yields and profit in the short term – in order to improve the land’s condition over time. The town of Suurbraak falls in the Swellendam Municipality. It is a small missionary town, in a municipality, which has a very low-income population. According to Statistics South Africa, in Suurbraak itself, nearly two thirds of the population earn less than R 38,200 a year.
Wilmar has adopted this approach with sheer determination. In addition, he has had to encourage many in the community of Suurbraak that this new way of doing things is the best way – picking up some conflict along the way. For him, it has meant a lower income on some crops, in order to ensure crop rotation is taking place effectively. It has meant leaving the straw and not baling it for short-term profit. And it has meant taking all livestock off the property on which he farms – again diminishing his returns.
Wilmar does this with a smile. “If it’s not in your heart to farm this way, then you mustn’t do it. This is not work for me – it is enjoyable. I do my work with a smile.”
Background – overcoming obstacles:
Nevertheless, Wilmar did not always approach farming with a smile. He lives in the small town of Suurbraak – a mission town – home to many of society’s most vulnerable members. He completed Matric at Swellendam Secondary School, staying in the residence there. In addition, immediately after school started working for his father, Oom Eddie, as a general worker on land hired from the municipality.
In 2005, Wilmar started taking over the grain farming from his ageing father. “Even then, I said to him that the way we were working is not right. Our yields were not increasing. And the wild grass stood higher than the wheat in the crop”. In 2008, the Adams farming business struck disaster: Wilmar and his dad had a complete crop failure. “It was because of the practices we were employing, it didn’t work. But my father refused to change.”
In 2010, the Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative was born, and Oom Eddie Adams joined the Cooperative as one of five members. Working with mentor, Dirk van Papendorp, the Cooperative members had to work extremely hard to bring life back into the land. Because the land is communal, very little investment had gone into the quality of the soil for more than four decades. The next five years were spent focusing on improving the soil fertility, to improve yields to the point where the five members would be able to support themselves. Wilmar officially joined the Cooperative in 2011. And slowly started to implement Conservation Agriculture into the land he farmed. According to mentor, Dirk van Papendorp, “Oom Eddie had a certain style, and he did not want to change that. It was the old way of doing farming. But now we see Conservation Agriculture works – it’s just a longer-term thing”. Oom Eddie’s involvement tapered off slowly as he looked to retire, with Wilmar picking up more and more of the farming operations, to the point that Wilmar joined the Cooperative, followed by Oom Eddie’s retirement from the Cooperative. Oom Eddie died last year. Wilmar says, “My dad raised me in a tough way. It taught me to not give up when things go wrong.”
So today, Wilmar continues with the Adams farming business – but approaches farming differently to his father. He farms on 295 hectares of communal land. Although it is a long-term rental agreement between the Grain Farmers’ Cooperative and the municipality, there are conditions attached, including that farmers need to look after the land. He also met his future wife, Chrishendo, at an agricultural show in Swellendam five years ago. Today they live in the family home with their four-year old son, Wade – who is already showing huge enthusiasm for the farming industry.
Says Recardo Carelsen, Senior Agricultural Advisor at the Department of Agriculture, LandCare division: “Wilmar is a very enthusiastic grain farmer and has implemented Conservation Agriculture. His crops have increased over a period of five years. And his input costs are becoming lower. He is a role model for any grain farmer in Suurbraak.”
Changing the farming environment:
Suurbraak is beautiful, lush, and green. And so farming this land should be beneficial. But for 40 years, many poor farming practices were implemented by grain farmers on the dryland communal area. And while around 15 families used to farm in the area, over a period of 25 years, the soil condition deteriorated to such an extent that only six families remained willing to farm here.
The decrease was largely attributed to the fact that farmers did not own the land, and were unwilling to invest large amounts of their own capital into it. As a result, wrong cropping practices were used, incorrect (and old) machinery was used, farmers at the time skimped on inputs (such as fertilizer, lime and herbicides) and new technology had surpassed the knowledge base of the farmers.
Funding support from a variety of sources initially supported the set up phase of the Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative. Over the next five years, the farmers and their mentor corrected the soil fertility status. It’s estimated that many of the fields, which had not been cultivated or fertilized for some 25 years, required input costs of Rand (R) 5,500 per hectare, just to be able to start planting grain there.
But even with the support of the mentor and other partners, each member of the Cooperative has a choice on how they will implement their farming practices. Dirk van Papendorp says, “All five members in the project receive the same information, providing guidance as to the direction in which we’re working. But each farmer can choose how they will approach Conservation Agriculture”.
Dirk specifically nominated Wilmar for the National LandCare Conference Best Conservation Agriculture: Advanced Smallholder award, because over the past two years, things have changed so much on the property on which Wilmar farms. “Over the last two years, Wilmar has gone strongly into Conservation Agriculture.”
Conservation Agriculture – the activities:
Wilmar now actively employs principles such as rotating his crops every year. This helps to reduce soil erosion, and prevents specific nutrients from being depleted on his lands. It may also impact on profits in the short term. “We started farming with lots of canola, which is not the most profitable cultivar,” says Dirk. “This helped control the rye grass, which competes with wheat, barley and oats.”Wilmar says he works according to a management plan across his 10 camps. This year he has planted 165 hectares of barley, 85 hectares of wheat, and 45 hectares of oats. He has no canola planted this year. Next year, camps that this year have barley on, will be rotated with oats and canola. Another camp with oats will be rotated with wheat. And a successful wheat camp on the farm will be rotated with canola next year.
This crop rotation method is particularly important for the Suurbraak region, where climate change is likely to lead to hotter summers and an increase in short downpours in summer. “This method saves the moisture in the soil through summer, giving you the chance to get in early with a limited amount of rainfall. So when a little rain falls in summer, it is absorbed. When planting, you want to be able to plant with the least possible rain. Other farmers will have to wait for the rain to subside, because the moisture that is left in their soil is simply too deep.”
Wilmar has also focused on No Tillage on the lands he works. This process of soil cultivation encourages farmers to leave the previous year’s crop remnants on the land, before planting the next crop. Wilmar says, “With not till, when it rains a lot here, the ground is not washed away. In the past there were camps where this was not practiced, and there was erosion.” As a result, Wilmar also made no bales this year. “I made some people angry this year when I decided not to bale (to leave stubble cover), as they were hoping to buy it.”
Wilmar also does not till the land anymore, reducing the soil churn and the loss of moisture. No till positively impacts the microorganisms in the soil, essential to supporting a good crop. He says, “This has reduced the amount of fertilizer I need, while my diesel use has also decreased a lot.”
This young farmer took a brave step when he decided to prevent any livestock from grazing on his veld. His father had supported grazing on the stubble and crop residues, and throughout the years, many cattle had grazed on the camps between harvests. Livestock are known to reduce the amount of soil cover, again leading to the loss of moisture, and increasing the risk of erosion during heavy downpours.
Dirk says, “Wilmar has shown such growth. You have to buy in to the idea and understand the science. The people who do not listen, do not understand the science. People bale straw and sell it for cash, but that is penny-wise, pound-foolish. It is a short-term gain. If you kept the straw on the land, you lost that income but have a greater yield in the long term.”
The economics and social benefits of Conservation Agriculture:
The Swellendam Municipality Integrated Development Plan (2016-17 Draft revision) found that 39% of the population is not economically active. Therefore, the Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative has focused on improving not only the farming opportunities in the area, but also the economy of the region. The Grain Farmers Cooperative received support from a variety of sources, including the Department of Agriculture, since its official launch in 2010. This year, for the first time, the farmers are operating independently and largely, sustainably. Wilmar and the four other members have access to credit from Sentraal-Suid Koöperasie, an agricultural cooperative situated in the region, which supports the farmers to buy the equipment and materials needed. While buying large implements to support farming remains a challenge, the profitability has improved for the farmers over the years.
“In one camp, I used much less fertilizer, and my diesel use decreased 20% last year and another 40% this year. When I start working on a new camp, it costs me double the amount of diesel.”Despite the improving yields, mentor Dirk believes the emerging farmers can do even better. “The yield is still not 
completely there. So we will go back to the books – timing is a big part of the problem. You cannot be three weeks late. It has also been dry, and you can’t compete with weeds.” He says the challenges around timing can be linked to the lack of machinery available – with the five farmers all requiring the equipment at more or less the same time.
Wilmar employs one permanent worker, and brings in three seasonal workers – all also from the community of Suurbraak. He says, “You must improve your life standard. And I have a love for this work.”
Wilmar’s strategy:
Wilmar’s strategy is simple – to farm on time, and with joy. His wife, Chrishendo, summarizes it perfectly, “He is very hard working. That was why I was attracted to him. So many men here are lazy. During harvest time, he is up early and comes home late at night.” Wilmar adds, “I am just grateful to the man above.”
Demonstrating natural resource stewardship:
His firm belief in Conservation Agriculture, and his decision to implement this, is in its own right a demonstration of natural resource stewardship. But Wilmar is also the custodian of extremely endangered renosterveld, including Swellendam Silcrete Fynbos and Eastern Rûens Shale renosterveld. The latter is listed as critically endangered, with less than 7% remaining in the lowlands of the Overberg. Wilmar’s farm provides a section of the large, well-connected renosterveld fragments. And according to the Cooperative’s management plan, protecting this will increase the chances of survival of several threatened species. To help with this, the Cooperative has teamed up with the Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust, a non-profit group working to protect the last remaining renosterveld patches.
According to Dirk, the Cooperative members are vigilant in their farming activities to protect the surrounding natural resources. “We follow practices that don’t allow erosion to take place. We try to get the soil biology right, to encourage moisture through soil cover. And we look at the natural environment around us. So we don’t throw our poison containers down, we look out for pollution, we don’t let poison run out.” The Cooperative has also focused on invasive alien plants. They received funding from Working for Water, and became a registered service provider. On Wilmar’s farm, they cleared Black wattle and thistle. These were taken out to such an extent that they have not returned.
Reaching the community – for Conservation Agriculture and beyond:
Wilmar is not only a member of the Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative, he is also a member of Sentraal-Suid Koöperasie, and is a member of Grain South Africa. He was also nominated to stand on the Barley Industry Committee within Grain SA this year.
According to Recardo Carelsen of the Department of Agriculture, Wilmar would furthermore like to transfer some of his knowledge learned during his years of farming to the next generation. “Wilmer came to me, and asked me to comment. He feels he has developed a lot, and would like to be a mentor, because of what he has learnt, he wants to give someone a chance. If there are young people coming forward, then he is ready to take them by the hand.”
Wilmar’s wife, Chrishendo, says he is already reaching the community – through his hard work. “People come to him and ask for advice. He also gives them bales (in the years when he makes bales), and people come back to him and ask him for more.”
A second Cooperative operating in Suurbraak, called Rietbou Boerdery (a Cooperative that has replicated the Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative), has also called on Wilmar for support. This Cooperative consists of two women and five men, aged between around 35 and 55. These farmers were looking to introduce livestock onto the area where they farm. However, they needed grazing to support the livestock. Wilmar donated his tractor, and his time – and sowed oats on one of the lands (approximately 16 hectares). The Cooperative has also not had budget for fertilizer, and Wilmar will now donate his own fertilizer to the group
The Adams family is also active in the community – particularly in Early Childhood Development. Wilmar donated a ton of wheat to the Suurbraak crèche called Fraaie Viooltjies. The crèche used the funds raised from this to buy paint, and painted the entire building. Wilmar and Chrishendo also provide veggies from their own food garden to the children, and last year gave each of the children a food parcel.
Risks:
There are always risks to farming – including the weather, linked to climate change. It is believed many areas of the Western Cape will see more rain during early spring and summer, while winter rains could become less. Heavy downpours are also more likely. That is why Conservation Agriculture practices are crucial: they help to support the soil and other natural resources around the agricultural areas during floods. In addition, during long, dry summer months, soil moisture is retained to support life. These are practices Wilmar has already adopted in his day-to-day approach.
Developing further:
Wilmar is supporting other Cooperatives who have replicated the model introduced by the Suurbraak Grain Farmers Cooperative. In addition, he is now in a position to transfer his knowledge to other young farmers. His own goal is to also farm beyond his current boundaries. Mentor Dirk van Papendorp is now working closely with him and other partners, to support this goal.
Other funding sources:
The Suurbraak Grain Farmers’ Cooperative has received support from a variety of sources, including the Department of Agriculture’s LandCare programme, Casidra, the Commodity Project Allocation Committee (CPAC), the Department of Environmental Affairs (Working for Water), and the Department of Land Reform.
Conclusion:
According to Wilmar, he has approached farming in steps – and he has achieved each of his steps to date. “I started out as a general worker. It was my vision to firstly get my own bakkie. And I got that. Then I wanted to get my own tractor. I got that too.”
Wilmar’s next step? To farm on land that he owns. “And I will work to get that.” But – true to Wilmar’s principles to farm close to nature – he will only take on this opportunity if he knows the Suurbraak communal land, where he currently farms, is cared for. “I would be very happy if I could farm on my own farm of 1200 hectares. I would give my land in Suurbraak to someone to follow my example. Nevertheless, they cannot farm the way it was farmed in the 1980s. They must continue to build it up from where it is now. Otherwise all my hard work is lost.”
Acknowledgments:
Interviews:
Wilmar Adams, Young CA Farmer