Van der Mescht said she feels very proud to receive the honour to represent Plettenberg Bay in the provincial round of the competition.
Elroy Kanana and Bianca van der Mescht receive their awards during the Garden Route Prestige Agricultural Awards.
Locals shone at the recent Garden Route Prestige Agricultural Awards where the employees of former Young Farmer of the Year Johan van der Schyff took top honours.
The ceremony was held at the George showgrounds last month. The awards were established in 2002 as an agricultural development project in De Doorns and today 16 regions in the Western Cape participate.
This year there were 107 participants, 33 finalists, and 11 winners in various categories.
While most winners were from the George area, Plettenberg Bay’s Bianca van der Mescht won the category for middle management while Elroy Kanana took second place in animal production. Both work for JJ van der Schyff en Seun based in Plettenberg Bay.
It is also this farming initiative that produced 2019’s SA Toyota National Young Farmer of the Year competition after winning the Agri Western Cape Agriculture Young Farmer of the Year in May the same year.
Van der Mescht started working for JJ van der Schyff en Seun in November 2009 and manages the food safety and quality systems of its three companies – JJ van der Schyff en Seun in Plett, Dagbreek Eiers in Humansdorp and its egg distribution depot in Kraaifontein, Cape Town.
She also represents the company in third party FSA audits and handles exports as well as employment equity and BEE.
The awards ceremony was attended by Western Cape MEC for agriculture Ivan Meyer and Garden Route District Municipality Mayor Memory Booysen.
In his keynote address, Meyer said that agricultural workers are essential as they ensure that South Africans have food on the table and contribute to the economy. Agriculture in the Western Cape contributes 11% to the provincial economy. Western Cape farmers and agricultural workers also contribute 50% to South Africa’s agriculture exports, despite the fact that the province only has 10% of the national population and covers only 10% of the country’s geographical area.
Western Cape MEC for agriculture Ivan Meyer delivered the keynote address.
All the regional winners went to Stellenbosch last week where they underwent interviews by a panel of judges for the provincial competition.
Van der Mescht said she feels very proud to receive the honour to represent Plettenberg Bay in the provincial round of the competition.
She and the rest of the regional winners will learn how they performed at a gala event in the first week of November.
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