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Kwanalu

KZN farmer wins MPO Nedbank Stewardship Award 2019

14 October 2019

Sandra Berning of Springvale Farm near Rosetta in KwaZulu-Natal was announced the winner of the prestigious annual MPO Nedbank Stewardship Award at the MPO gala dinner held on 9 October.

The event was held during Agri-Expo Livestock at Sandringham near Stellenbosch. Follow #MilkMpo on Twitter, and @MilkProducersSA on Facebook to watch all the best MPO gala dinner moments.

Setting a high standard

The MPO Nedbank Stewardship Awards, supported by the World Wildlife Fund, recognises dairy farmers who are excellent stewards of their product, the people and animals on the farm, and the environment, while farming profitably. The competition was stiff, but Berning walked off with the accolade in the end.

The judges found that Berning’s cow and milking management, intercalving period, and cow longevity was top notch. With virtually no calf mortalities, and all the environmental stewardship boxes ticked, she sets a high standard.

James Kean of Mearns Farm near Mooi River, also in KwaZulu-Natal, was the runner up with excellent biosecurity, training and well-being of staff, and driving an initiative to limit water usage on his and neighboring farms.

The finalists

The other two finalists were Rohan Herselman of Lancewood Farm near Hoekville in the Western Cape, and Gavin Beaumont of Riverside, Dalfreuch, and Leeway Farms near Cookhouse in the Eastern Cape.

The judges commented on excellent biosecurity measures on both farms and were impressed by the personal knowledge and hands-on management of the two finalists.

Berning will be spoiled with a stewardship tour to New Zealand to the value of R40 000 sponsored by Nedbank. Kean received R20 000 from Nedbank to invest in stewardship improvements on-farm. – Press release, MPO