Agricultural business owner: Elisabeth Taljaard

Owner of Farm Shack and farmer by heart, Elisabeth Taljaard has been in the farming industry since 2020 and practices farming on a few hectares of land on farm Veldduin, north of Grootfontein.

She said initially she did not study to become a farmer, as it was something that has always been ingrained in her. However, as time went by, she became more and more interested in the business aspect of farming and decided to take a few short courses in agriculture on Coursera.

She said an open mind and willingness to learn new things is what allowed her to grow her business. “I am always open to learning new things in agriculture, trying and testing things that some people might be afraid of."

Taljaard highlighted that, besides having a passion for farming, it is important to have proper management skills - this goes for financial management and delegation skills in order to successfully run a business in the agriculture industry.

“Delegation is important because you are the ‘CEO’ of your own company, which means you cannot do everything by yourself,” Taljaard noted.

She further added that thinking on your feet is definitely an added skill that would benefit you in the agricultural sector.

The farmer noted that a big part of owning and running a farming business is administration. “Admin makes up a big part of farming, from fertiliser programmes to data capturing - there will always be admin!"

Just like any other business in any other industry, Farm Shack has faced its own share of challenges over the years.

Taljaard said many of the challenges she has faced were due to environmental factors such as flooding or even frostbite that appears during cold winters.

When asked about what the day-to-day life of a farmer looks like, she said it is very unpredictable, but exciting.

She further emphasised that every day looks different and as much as you may plan for the next day, just know that when you are a farmer, you never know what tomorrow will hold.