On the farm Sudami in Groblersdal, the beauty of linear perspective unfolds in front of your eyes. It can be found in the perfectly neat rows of carrots with their striking fernlike tresses. And in the immaculate rows of sweetcorn, beans and peas. Even the rolling koppies seem to fall into line –making it a very tidy picture indeed.
This is the farm that Hannes’s family has owned since 1998. Here, you’ll not only find sweetcorn, peas and vegetable crops all year round, but also Hannes’ other passion: game.
“I believe in consistency. But you have to be persistent in your consistency,” says Hannes.
Hannes’s perfectionism, unstoppable competitive spirit and his obsession with a paper trail have made him the successful farmer he is today.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, two days are okay, but a week is too long.
“If the record is four tons, I want to harvest five,” he says. “I want to break records.” But adds that although it is good to be strong-minded sometimes, it can also be his Achilles heel.
Luckily his family is there to keep him sane. Hannes’s wife Rileen, has a calmness that helps to chill him out. And his two boys (aged 2 years and 2 months) quickly put things back into perspective too. In the tough game of farming it is the support on the home front that makes it all worthwhile.
