•••
JUANITA GREYLING
T RADE N E W S
DJ van der
Linde is proud
of his 40-year
old planter.
2016 Free State Agriculture Young Farmer
a proud Senwes customer
“I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN
THAT I WANT TO FARM!
THERE IS NOWHERE ELSE
WHERE I WANT TO BE.”
T
he sixth generation Van der
Linde, JD, was crowned as
the provincial winner at the Free
State Young Farmer event at Monte Bello Estate in Bloemfontein on
21 April 2016. Here Senwes was
also the proud co-sponsor of the
Free State Young Farmer Conference. DJ is motivated to follow in
his ancestors' footsteps en tells us
that his grandfather, DJ van der
Linde, was the 1984 Maize Farmer
of the Year. “I want to be part of
a good farming history”, he said
ambitiously. “I never thought I
would win the competition up to
this stage. There are a number of
good farmers out there and I do
not regard myself as the top farmer
in the area. However, I try my
best and I am proud to be able to
compete on equal footing with the
20 JUN/JUL 2016
others”.
DJ grew up on the farm St.
Helena near Vierfontein and is
currently the third generation on
the farm. He is a proud farmer:
“Everything I know about farming I learned from my father”.
DJ has a B.Ed. Tech with main
subjects Mechanical Technology
and Fitting-and-Turning, which
he attained from the North West
University in Potchefstroom. “I
built all sorts of things and used
my hands from an early age, but
I also knew that I wanted to be
a farmer. I only went to study to
find a wife”, he adds jokingly. He
met his lovely wife, Rianette, at
university and they are blessed
with two beautiful children, Divan
(6) en Suhanri (4). “Without my
family, and in particular my wife,
I would not have been here today.
She supports me at every level of
the farming operations”.
DJ really started farming in
2012 when he inherited the farm
from his late father, DJ van der
Linde. He systematically expanded
the diversified farming operations
• SENWES Scenario
to 750 hectares of cultivated land
and 150 hectares of grazing. The
farming operations include 60%
white maize, 10% yellow maize,
25% sunflower and 5% cattle
(Simbras). One thing which DJ
learned from his father and which
he really took to heart, is: “do
something once and do it right”.
DJ likes to know exactly what happens on his farm. “I am painfully
neat and tidy”, which is why he
has refined his planting techniques
and why he precisely manages his
crops. DJ is a proud Senwes supporter. “I wlll always do business
with Senwes. They look after us
farmers”.
DJ always manages to make a
plan - he uses equipment, implements and skills available on the
farm in order to adjust to changing
conditions. “I don’t have the latest
implements, tractors and equipment, but I adjust what I have in
order to keep up with technology
and the developing industry”.
DJ has an old threshing machine
which dates from the thirties and
which is in a 100% working con-