At 28 years of age, Hlobi Yende demonstrates the energy and aspirations of her generation. A confident, influential and competitive millennial, she has added several successful divisions to the family farm in the three years since she swapped her city shoes for gumboots.
And while her plans for the future seem even more daring, her track record speaks of a woman that perseveres to the end, pivoting when obstacles block her way.
As director of The Yende and Partners (Pty Ltd), in Ratanda, near Heidelberg in Gauteng, she is responsible for the day-to-day running of the 1 064ha farm. The main commodities are 120ha of maize as well as butternuts, cattle, sheep and goats. She recently added beekeeping to aid pollination and income through honey sales.
Yende has five brothers but is the sole sibling managing the business. While she always enjoyed spending time on the farm, farming was not her first choice for a career. But when all five brothers turned down the opportunity to join their father, Charles, on the
