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02 October 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Michelle Marais and Wian Visser
The UFS winners of the Old Mutual Agricultural Student of the Year Competition are Michelle Marais and Wian Visser.

The University of the Free State (UFS) once again produced winners at this year’s Old Mutual Agricultural Student of the Year competition. Michelle Marais, honours student in the UFS Department of Agricultural Economics, and Wian Visser, final-year BScAgric Agronomy student, were top scorers in the Agricultural Economics and Crop Production sections respectively. 

Learning from the best

Apart from the opportunity to compete in their field of study, Michelle and Wian also benefited from the expertise of industry leaders in agricultural economics, animal science, and crop production. They had the opportunity to learn from Dr John Purchase (Agbiz), Dr Dirk Strydom (Grain SA), and Gerhard Schutte (Red Meat Producers’ Organisation), who acted as industry partners and judges during the competition. 

Michelle always had a particular interest in the development of emerging farmers and plans on doing her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, focusing on emerging wool farmers. “Beyond that, I hope to get an opportunity to work finding solutions to some of the problems facing development in agriculture,” she said. 

Wian also plans on completing his master’s. “Thereafter, I would like to enter the workforce and help the current and future producers to farm better in a changing environment. The ideal would be to remain in a research-oriented position while working full time,” he said. 

Participating with the UFS in this competition, were Stellenbosch University (producing the overall winner in the Animal Science section, Pieter Theron), the University of Fort Hare, North-West University, and the University of Pretoria. As with last year’s competition, the students first had to compete in an initial round at their respective universities, after which eleven finalists went through to the final round held during the ALFA expo at the Afridome in Parys. 

Rewarded for hard work

The winners were announced during a gala dinner at the expo. Besides a green blazer and R1 000 prize money, Michelle and Wian also received an Old Mutual investment portfolio worth R5 000. They furthermore gained exposure on Grootplaas and RSG Landbou and in Plaas Media’s magazines Veeplaas, Stockfarm, and FarmBiz.

Old Mutual Agricultural Student of the Year Competition

The three winners in this year’s Old Mutual Agricultural Student of the Year Competition. From the left are Riana Grobler, Marketing Manager at Old
Mutual,  Pieter Theron of Stellenbosch University, Michelle Marais and  Wian Visser, both from the University of the Free State, and Albert Loubser of
Plaas Media.  (Photo: Plaas Media)

According to Dr Frikkie Maré, Academic Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics (UFS), the Old Mutual Agricultural Student of the Year competition provides the ideal opportunity for universities to showcase the quality of their Agricultural students, and thus the quality of their teaching and research practices. 

He said: “In the two years that the competition was hosted, the UFS managed to win the Agricultural Economics and Animal Science divisions in 2018, and the Agricultural Economics and Plant Production divisions in 2019.  We have thus been able to win all three categories over the two years, which can only serve as an indication that the UFS is indeed one of the top Agricultural Science universities in the country.”

Preparing for the workplace

Wian and Michelle both agree that they have received more than just the exposure and funding. 

In her own words, Michelle described the value added: “This competition challenged me to become more aware of current events within the politics, policy, and economic development in the country and the influence on our specific industry. The opportunity to present my findings and opinions on current issues in agriculture to several industry leaders, challenged me to combine the theoretical knowledge gathered in my four years of study with my practical experiences. Applying it to real-world problems and finding possible solutions helped me to realise that I could not have asked for better preparation in the workplace.”

According to Wian, the competition presented him with the opportunity to develop his networking skills and a chance to express his opinion in a professional environment. “It broadened my perception on agriculture by exposing me to different entities in the agricultural community. I also saw different methods and approaches in the sector that I am not necessarily familiar with,” he said. 

Wian believes the UFS has one of the best agricultural faculties in the country and that staff put a lot of effort into preparing students for the world of work. “The Department of Agronomy encourages critical thinking, an essential skill in an ever-changing work environment,” said Wian. He added: “Assessments are not only theoretical, but practical. These practical skills are related to the work required in a work environment. The department also exposes its students to companies, resources, and contacts that are helpful for networking when one enters the workforce.”

According to Michelle, the Department of Agricultural Economics also play their part in preparing students for the job market. “Our assignments always challenged us to contact people in the industry, to do industry research, and to plan practically,” she said. 

Old Mutual has been involved as the name sponsor of this Plaas Media competition since 2018 and has played an active role in promoting and developing the competition.

News Archive

Walk to Cape Town closes on high note
2014-06-03

Photo Gallery of arrival in Cape Town
Dagbreek interview (kykNet) (YouTube)
Thank you from all UFS students (YouTube)

It was a gruelling road totalling a distance of 1 038 km, but the UFS #NSHstride team completed the challenge of walking all the way to Cape Town.

On Thursday 1 May 2014, Adéle van Aswegen and Ntokozo Nkabinde, both from the UFS, took on the road to Cape Town on foot in order to highlight the problem of food insecurity among students at the UFS.

Two kind-hearted Bloemfontein residents, Nico Piedt and Ronél Warner, tackled the journey together with them, not only to draw the country’s attention to food insecurity, but also to raise money to address the problem.

The hike, known as the No Student Hungry 1000/33 stride (or #NSHstride), came to an end at the St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Tuesday 3 June 2014.

About R500 000 were raised before, during and after the foursome’s hike.

The NSH bursary, established in 2011 by Prof Jonathan Jansen, the Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, and Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, aims to put food insecurity among students at the UFS under the spotlight.

Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, says: “We are completely inspired by the victory of a 1 000 km with one step at a time – as it reminds us of the courage of our students who beat hunger one day at a time.”

“The stride team challenges us to change our world for the better every day. We hope to continue their victory for students by challenging all universities to join the struggle for food security and will call a colloquium in this regard in October.”

These boots are made for walking ... to Cape Town (Article of 02 May 2014)
“Aren’t auntie and them hungry yet?” Country folk worried about NSH hikers (15 May 2014)
UFS hikers to Cape Town reflect on their journey (Article of 26 May 2014)

Daily updates:
(You can also follow us on @UFSweb for daily tweets)

Day 33: 2 June 2014
13:40
20 km
Sunset Beach, Cape Town

Day 32: 1 June 2014
16:05
26 km
Mervyn and Sanet Wessels, Belville

Day 31: 31 May 2014
16:31
39.6 km
Rhonell and Gavin Julain, Paarl

Day 30: 30 May 2014
14:00
16 km
Monte Rosa, Rawsonville

Day 29: 29 May 2014
13:16
31 km
The Habit, Worcester

Day 28: 28 May 2014
11:00
22.4 km
Monte Roza, De doorns

Day 27: 27 May 2014
17:00
21.1 km
Karoo Hotel

Day 26: 26 May 2014
18:27
43.3 km
Tows river

Day 25: 25 May 2014
12:18
Lord Milner Hotel, Matjiesfontein

Day 24: 24 May 2014
16:30
42 km
Laingsburg Country Lodge

Day 23: 23 May 2014
17:32
41.8 km
Vergenoeg

Day 22: 22 May 2014
16:42
43 km
Assendelft Lodge and Bush Camp, Prins Albert

Day 21: 21 May 2014
15:09
42 km
Leeu Gamka Hotel

Day 20: 20 May 2014
13:39
20 km
Alida, Springfontein

Day 19: 19 May 2014
12:31
27.6 km
Teri Moja Game Lodge

Day 18: 18 May 2014
First rest day
Nagenoeg Guesthouse, Beaufort West

Day 17: 17 May 2014
19:30
62.3 km
Nagenoeg Guesthouse, Beaufort West

Day 16: 16 May 2014
13:00
14 km
Taaibochfontein

Day 15: 15 May 2014
16:03
32 km
Travalia, Three Sisters

Day 14: 14 May 2014
18:33
43 km
Joalani Guest Farm

Day 13: 13 May 2014
17:30
33 km
Die Rondawels

Day 12: 12 May 2014
16:49
40 km
Aandrus B&B in Richmond

Day 11: 11 May 2014
39 km
Wortelfontein (Magdel and Christiaan)

Day 10: 10 May 2014
15:44
34 km
Hanover Lodge

Day 9: 09 May 2014
40.8 km
Camping between Colesberg and Hanover

Day 8: 08 May 2014
15:25
33.7 km
Colesberg, The Lighthouse Guesthouse

Day 7: 07 May 2014
15:08
23 km
Orange River Lodge

Day 6: 06 May 2014
15:57
51.06 km
Gariep Forever Resort

Day 5: 05 May 2014
12:18
28 km
Rondefontein

Day 4: 04 May 2014
15:27
35 km
Trompsburg: Fox Den

Day 3: 03 May 2014
17:30
46.74 km
Edenburg Country Lodge (Hotel)

Day 2: 02 May 2014
11:44 am
15.3 km
Tom's Place

Day 1: 01 May 2014
32 km
Leeuwberg

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