2023 FS Young Farmer of the Year candidates – an asset to their communities

Three determined and dynamic young farmers, each of whom is an asset to their respective communities, will face each other to be named Free State Agriculture’s 27th Young Farmer of the Year.

The candidates are:

Hansie Müller (36) from Viljoenskroon

Hennie Geldenhuys (37) from Excelsior

Lukas Lessing (26) from Marquard

Hansie Müller has been farming for the past 18 years, of which 7 years on his current farm unit which he purchased himself. He is passionate about his feedlot and works with his wife, Adrie, according to his personal motto, “Not the biggest, but the best”. In addition to the feedlot, he also operates a crop farm. Hansie believes that children should not go to bed hungry and is therefore involved in various community actions in his area. He is also a member of the fire association and is involved in rural safety in his area.

Hennie Geldenhuys, in his words, has been farming since childhood and has a love and passion for what he does. He believes that you reap the rewards of your hard work and is therefore not afraid to roll up his sleeves and jump in himself. Hennie is the managing director of the family’s harvesting contractor company and also runs his own crop farming. He is part of the local farm safety sector that regularly patrols with the police. He and his wife Franciske also support the local kindergarten, churches and community actions.    

Lukas Lessing has been farming for 10 years and doesn’t want to do anything else. He believes the fact that his father involved him in decision-making from a young age and gave him freedom has produced positive results. He is currently the general manager of the family trust. He mainly operates a crop farm (maize, soya and sunflower) and a smaller livestock branch. Lukas and his wife, Marné, are involved in their local church as well as the local retirement home and Lukas does not hesitate to scrape farm roads himself where necessary. He believes that his workers should benefit from their input into farming, that they are taken care of and enjoy their work.

The winner will be announced on 18 April 2023 in Bloemfontein and automatically advances to Agri SA/Toyota SA’s National Young Farmer of the Year competition.