BLACK DAIRY FARMERS TAKE THE CREAM

In 1999 Thabang Tsephe used money he had saved from his family trading store business and his taxi business to lease Willary Farm in the Eastern Cape’s Ongeluksnek area. The farm had about 10ha of planted pastures, irrigated by draglines and a moveable pivot. There was also 80ha of dryland grain maize that Thabang milled after harvesting and sold as meal to shops and other customers.

His vision was to become a sustainable large-scale dairy farmer and today he has gone some distance in working his way towards that goal.

Initially Thabang milked 10 mixed-breed cows with a portable four-point milking machine. He drove long distances every day to market and distribute his milk, supplying local school feeding schemes, shops and direct consumers. Thabang leased Willary Farm for seven years and slowly grew his dairy herd to about 30 cows in milk.

GROWING THE HERD

In 2006, Thabang leased 150ha of arable land and 350ha of veld grazing and planted pastures from the Mariazelle Mission in the Eastern Cape’s