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MPO press releases

24 May 2007

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY DèAN KLEYNHANS, CHAIRMAN OF THE MILK PRODUCERS’ ORGANISATION, WESTERN CAPE

Elim dairy project shows good progress

Over the past two months the Elim dairy project in the Western Cape has made excellent progress. The project is under the leadership of a committee consisting of strategic partners and is chaired by the MPO Western Cape.

At the end of May the project would have planted its first pastures, with the assistance of input suppliers and commercial farmers of the Haasvlakte Farmers’ Association who made their tractors available to get the pastures to ground. An emerging farmer was awarded the contract for supplying silage, hay and straw to the dairy. The Western Cape Department of Agriculture has already bought 30 cows and residents of Elim contributed ten cows to the project. The process of selecting a dairy manager and workers is underway and they will be sent on SETA accredited training courses.

The aim is to start out with 40 cows in the first year and eventually become a full-fledged business entity with 500 cows.

The dairy project was identified five years ago and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture was approached to help establish the dairy farm. The project was divided into four phases. The first is the planning phase, followed by the creation of infrastructure. Phase 3 involves putting the production unit into operation and the fourth phase focuses on mentorship.

The following strategic partners were identified to help with phase 3:
• The Elim community
• The Western Cape Department of Agriculture
• The MPO and Cendel (Centre for Producer Development). Cendel manages the mentorship programme with funding from Milk SA
• The Overberg District Agricultural Association representing commercial farmers
• Input suppliers that include Overberg Agri (Aggricultural business), Meadow Feeds (feed company), Terrason (chemical), Omnia (fertiliser), Erasmus Petroleum (fuel), Cape Gate (fencing and poles) and Parmalat (milk buyer).

A number of plans have been developed to expand the herd. The business plan is being updated and will be submitted to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture for the acquisition of further capital funding. In addition, the renting of cows offers a number of benefits. The committee plans to facilitate specially structured loans with banks to enable developing communities to purchase dairy cows and become involved in agriculture.

Secondly, commercial milk producers can also lease cows to the project and in this way earn BEE points. Milk producers can also help their workers to lease cows to the Elim project by means of loans or donations.

Phase 4 is the mentorship phase, where all the partners in their respective terrains will help to monitor and implement the strategic and business plan. This will ensure that the dairy grows and develops in a sustainable manner. This phase will also be used to investigate the additional of further value to the project.

For further information, contact Dèan Kleynhans at 082 894 0413.

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