Senwes participated fully in the Grain SA NAMPO Harvest Day as exhibitor, raised funds for safety on farms and encouraged open discussions on current affairs in agriculture by organising and presenting a discussion forum focusing on the future from a specially equipped TV studio at NAMPO Park. ‘This is what an agricultural business is supposed to do – not only to do business, but also to contribute actively to the industry,’ said Francois Strydom, managing director of Senwes, about the activities of the agribusiness over the past week. The Future Focus Discussion Forum – presented in collaboration with Grain SA, KykNet, Engen, Monsanto, John Deere, Cipla Agrimed and OFM – was aimed at adding value for commercial farmers and the broad agricultural value chain. The panel guests included a mixture of academics, independent analysts and commercial farmers, with Toks van der Linde as presenter. Speakers included Max du Preez, JP Landman, Theo Vorster, Dawie Roodt, Louis de Kock (Wildeklawer), Charl Senekal (Pongola) and Koos Barnard (Vlakplaas). From the ranks of academia the participants were professors Jonathan Jansen, Herman van Schalkwyk and Willie Esterhuyse, and Dr Theuns Eloff. Japie Grobler, Danie Minnaar, Jaco Minnaar, Nico Liebenberg and Francois Strydom, all members of the Senwes board, were also involved in panel discussions every day. KykNet will be broadcasting a summary of these discussions on 2 June and 9 June at 12:00. ‘It is not often that so many experts come together to discuss focus points of the day. The seven discussions maintained a good balance between the views of academics, politicians and practical producers. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the experts who participated, studio guests, the media and our partners regarding this addition to the excellent platform that the NAMPO Harvest Day offers,’ Strydom added, and confirmed that Senwes intends presenting this innovative programme again next year.

On Wednesday, 15 May, Senwes, in collaboration with Engen and OFM, acted as main sponsor of a prestigious sports evening held in Klerksdorp, with Ashwin Willemse as the guest speaker. An amount of R100 000 was raised at the event for the Agri Securitas trust fund, which acts in the interests of everybody involved in primary production whose activities are disrupted by crime. At an event held in the nearby Mirage Silo on 16 May, Professor Jonathan Jansen, vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, spoke to farmers, input providers, guests and staff about the similarities that exist between the people of South Africa – regardless of race, colour or background. Prof. Jansen emphasised that politicians in fact do not solve people’s problems for them. The people of South Africa have to resolve things for themselves by starting to talk to one another. The Senwes exhibition at the NAMPO Harvest Day was very popular. Many hunters and weapon enthusiasts found their way to the well-known weapons exhibition, and a new approach with the layout of the outdoors store paid dividends. A new VSAT satellite-connection product and three electronic utility models that were released attracted visitors to the Senwes technology tent, and the John Deere clothing range was once again a hit among visitors of all ages. The team from Senwes Grainlink was also on duty to discuss grain matters with clients. In the passport competition for visitors to the Senwes exhibition Jaco Theunissen from Johannesburg was the lucky winner of two lodge tickets for the rugby test between SA and New Zealand scheduled for 5 October at Loftus Versfeld.