Page 61 - Standard Bank KZN Top Business Women 2021

If you put someone in a position or a job where they don’t have an

interest or the passion, they are never actually going to be happy.

Founder of Future Farmers paid a minimum wage and that she would help with Future Farmers does not pay for its participants to
mentorship, which would be soft skill based. get through the process; they pay their own way. As
such they are earning and learning. Although Future
udy Stuart left school in 1969 and although “One of those boys ended up managing a dairy of over
Farmers has funders, when the young farmers go
she came from a farming family, they were not 1000 cows, another has his own beef farming business
overseas, they pay back their expenses so that another
open to the idea of a girl farming. Agricultural today and manages beef farms for other people,” said Judy.
young farmer can travel overseas. Consequently, the
Jcolleges were also not open to women at that
“Those young people ended up going overseas on donations received are being regularly turned over.
time. “This was a challenge to me as all I wanted
internships where they spent a year in another country.
to do was farm. My parents sent me to a secretarial Creating opportunities
The first one went to Germany, which was an incredible
school where they tried to teach me shorthand and
experience for him. He phoned me after the first week For Judy doing this work is a real privilege and it’s
typing. I was like a fish out of water. What I found
of being there and said, ‘Judy they have got no workers’. not something she does on her own. She says, “We
out is that if you put someone in a position or a job
He and his employer were looking after a whole dairy have a team of unbelievably good people who are all
where they don’t have an interest or the passion, they
farm. What he learnt there was invaluable.” committed and interested in what we are doing.”
are never actually going to be happy.”
An incredible experience In reflecting on her work life balance, Judy says that
Although following her passion was hard, Judy did not
she can’t really get away from her work. “I love these
give up and she started her dairy with three cows. For Judy’s intention was not to start an organisation but to
young people and I love the work that I am doing. The
the first five- or six-years Judy milked the cows twice help three young lads. The following year their friends
solution for me was to bring my family to the workplace.
daily – on her own – even when she was milking 40 phoned her, asking if she could help them as well.
My husband, Ross, is now retired, and he helps us out
cows. “I got up every morning without any days off “Obviously I couldn’t say no and the year after that I
a lot. Our daughter, Fiona, is involved, and she works
and I milked the cows in the morning and again in the got more calls. Eventually I closed down my own dairy
specifically with the overseas internships.”
afternoon. It was what I wanted to do.” because there was so much work to do, that I couldn’t
do both. It has been an incredible experience for me.” Future Farmers’ goal for the future is to reach more
A real passion
people and to set up offices in more provinces. At the
Future Farmers, which is based in Howick, KwaZulu-
Future Farmers started off with three young school moment, apart from KwaZulu-Natal, there are offices
Natal, was founded in 2006 and is an organisation
boys Judy met at a youth show who had done very well in the Western Cape and in the Free State.
working with youth between the ages of 18 and 26 years
training young heifers and had been in the provincial
old, mainly from remote rural communities. Its goal is In conclusion said Judy, “I think that it is critically
team. The boys were about to finish school but
to develop these young people into commercial farmers. important that Future Farmers is a small piece in the
unfortunately none of them had the funds or academic
“It’s very exciting to help set these young people on whole process of developing these people. The farmers
achievements required for further education.
a career path. It is really not that hard to create an themselves are our partners in this enterprise. We have
Discovering that they were likely to be unemployable opportunity for a young person to start to develop a farmers all over South Africa and overseas who are
mortified Judy as she recognised the talent that the career,” explained Judy. coming on board and creating opportunities for these
boys had for farming and couldn’t bear to see it wasted. young people.”
As agriculture has such a vast number of sectors, Future
“I saw in these young people a real passion and I could
Farmers really focuses on what each farmer loves doing, “There are so many stages that involve other people.
identify with them,” she reflected.
which can be anything from vegetable farming to Future Farmers wouldn’t be here without our
As Judy was a dairy farmer and knew a lot of other poultry to rabbits or dairy. “If someone wakes up every sponsors who are investing in these young people’s
dairy farmers, she asked them to take on these morning and does something that they love, they are lives and in agriculture, which puts food on the table
passionate young people. She requested that they be going to be successful – it’s hard to fail,” explains Judy. for everybody.”

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