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10 June 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Christopher Rothmann
Christopher Rothmann is standing in one of the containers that will form part of the science park for entrepreneurs.

Adding to the value chain, extending the teaching and learning process, and supporting the development of the surrounding communities – this is the result of seven years of hard work for the Paradys Experimental Farm of the University of the Free State (UFS). Whether it is yoghurt and cheese from the dairy factory, wool products from the wool production and wool processing hub, or an ice-cold beer from the fermentation institute, the farm will soon share the fruits of its labour with the Bloemfontein community.

Situated outside Bloemfontein on the road to Reddersburg, the farm is an agricultural training centre in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences for UFS students who, among others, take modules in agriculture, working with cattle, sheep, crop cultivation, and milk production. Moreover, the farm also offers training opportunities to members of the community, ranging from short courses in animal health and animal breeding to workshops in wool classing, sheep handling, and sheep management. 

“We want to take students through the entire production chain. It is a valuable part of our teaching and can make our work on the farm more profitable. The aim is to extend the use of a specific product. Instead of only selling milk, we add value to the product and sell it, for instance, as cheese or yoghurt. Or in the case of grain, rather than only selling it to wholesalers to make bread, it can be fermented into beer and waste can be used as animal feed,” says Prof Frikkie Neser, Head of the Department of Animal Sciences. He is the convenor of this initiative, along with the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Danie Vermeulen.

Currently, eight departments in four of the faculties at the UFS are involved in the work on the experimental farm. 

Natural products in the dairy processing unit

Dr Analie Hattingh, Manager of the dairy processing unit and Lecturer in the Department of Animal Science, is responsible for the entire production process in the dairy processing unit, from concept development up to sales. Since the installation of the unit started in May 2021, two lines of cheese have been produced – a delicious semi-hard, full-cream all-rounder, and a more exotic cheese with different flavours, containing ingredients such as cumin, chili, garlic, peppercorns, and mango. The Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development (CENSARD) will later cultivate and harvest some of these herbs in the tunnels on the experimental farm. The department will also be involved in product development.

More recently, Dr Hattingh also started to investigate the development of a yoghurt line with different flavours – the more traditional mixed fruit and strawberry, as well as more exciting flavours such as pear caramel.   

“All our products are natural,” she says. 

This initiative adds to the already established centralised infrastructure hub on the experimental farm, which supports wool production and processing. Under the auspices of CENSARD, members from the community are taught, among others, entrepreneurial skills in different aspects of wool processing, such as knitting, making felt products, spinning, and weaving. 

The group of women in the wool processing unit is producing, among others, felt pencil cases, laptop bags, hand/
bookbags, tray cloths, and soft toys. 
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs. 

Creating products from dairy and wool is not only contributing to job creation; it also empowers communities to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves.

Award-winning beer 

Award-winning beer makers Dr Errol Cason, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal Science, and Dr Christopher Rothmann, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Animal Sciences, are looking forward to opening a fermentation institute on the Paradys Experimental Farm. 

With their background as microbiologists, the two founders of Liquid Culture (in 2018) produced commercial batches of yeast used mainly by breweries for the fermentation of beer. They are supplying Bloemfontein as well as several breweries nationwide with their quality yeast. 

At the fermentation institute on the farm, these home brewers and owners of Kraft Brewing Co hope to not only continue brewing bear, but to also teach others about the fermentation process. Installation of the vessels, which were previously part of the South African Brewery’s World of Learning, is almost complete.

Dr Errol Cason, Dr Christopher Rothmann, and Barry Crous
Dr Errol Cason, Dr Christopher Rothmann, and Barry Crous at what will soon be a fermentation institute on
the Paradys Experimental Farm. 
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Entrepreneur science park 

Prof Neser says they are also in the process of constructing an entrepreneur (science) park for students in the sciences. Upon completion, the park will boast nine containers with the necessary infrastructure for students to work on innovation projects – promoting an entrepreneurial culture at the UFS. 

The farm will also provide a service to the agriculture industry by testing feed intake and growth rate in cattle, evaluating these animals’ efficiency in converting feed to body mass. Prof Neser says the UFS is the only university conducting these tests on cattle. Similar trials will also be conducted on sheep, in collaboration with BKB, ALPHA, and RFID.

Grass has been planted in the open areas, and trees and tables with benches are planned to create a welcoming space for school groups to visit during the week in order to learn about the wool and dairy value chain. Members of the community will also be invited to display and sell their products on Saturdays, along with the goods produced on the farm. The scene is set, and soon all projects will benefit not only UFS staff and students, but also the community.

Dr Analie Hattingh is constantly looking at developing
new products for the dairy processing 
unit. Here she
i
s testing feta cheese. 


News Archive

Ensure your place at the UFS
2010-10-27

The University of the Free State (UFS) appeals to all prospective South African students who want to come and study at the UFS in 2011 to submit their applications no later than Tuesday, 30 November 2010.

The UFS is aware of the fact that learners will not have received their final Grade 12 results by Tuesday, 30 November 2010; therefore provisional admission will be granted based on learners’ most recent Grade 12 results. Final admission will take place upon receipt of the final Grade 12 results, which will be available early in January 2011.

Prospective students can obtain application forms for admission at the following places:

  1. The UFS’s web site at www.ufs.ac.za,
  2. The Information Office (Unit for Prospective Students) at the Thakaneng Bridge on the UFS’s Main Campus in Bloemfontein,
  3. You may also send an e-mail to info@ufs.ac.za or
  4. Phone 051 401 3000 and the necessary forms will be posted to you.

Senior undergraduate students (that is all students who were registered up to and during 2010 at the UFS) as well as post-graduate students, must self-register electronically on-line from Monday, 1 November 2010 until Tuesday, 4 January 2011. This includes master’s and doctoral students.

In order to encourage senior students to register online, the UFS offers 20 laptops as incentives for the senior students who successfully register online from 1 November 2010. These laptops will be handed over to the winners after the registration process in 2011.

Registration of first-year students:

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, will welcome first-year students on Friday, 14 January and Saturday, 15 January 2011, respectively, in the Callie Human Centre. The Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, the Humanities and Education will be welcomed on 14 January 2011 and the students of the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Law and Theology shall be welcomed on 15 January 2011. The compulsory orientation programme for new first-years will also then commence.

From 17 to 21 January 2011 first-year students will receive academic advice at the Callie Human Centre, whereafter they will be referred for self-registration. These processes will take place according to the set timetable. This timetable is available in the Kovsie Guide that will be sent to learners as soon as we have received their applications, as well as on the web site of the UFS at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011.

First-year students’ fees must be paid prior to arrival on 14 and 15 January 2011.

Registration of senior students:

Senior students who experience problems with the electronic on-line self-registration process have the opportunity to resolve problems within a programme on campus from Wednesday, 5 January until Wednesday, 12 January 2011. This programme will be sent out to students and is also available at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011. The specific scheduled day for senior students to resolve problems is the last and only day to resolve the problem.

Senior students can also contact 051 401 9111 for more information in this regard.

Students may register for prescribed modules for 2011, even though the November 2010 examination results are not yet available. Changes resulting from examination results that are made available later can be done up to and including 28 January 2011.

In terms of applications for senior students, only students who have interrupted a calendar year of study need to re-apply for admission.

Registration of students at the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus:

Senior and first-year students of the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus register from Wednesday, 12 January until Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Nelson Mandela Hall on this campus.

Registration of students at the UFS South Campus:

First-year students from the UFS’s South Campus in the University Preparation Programme and the Extended Programme (only Natural and Agricultural Sciences) register from Monday, 24 January till Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Arena Hall on the South Campus.

Students who have successfully completed the University Preparation Programme register with the first-year students on the UFS Main Campus on Friday, 14 and Saturday, 15 January 2011 – according to faculties (cf. paragraph 6).

Lectures for all students shall commence on Monday, 24 January 2011.

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 October 2010

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