Hi, my name is Hein Koegelenberg and I manage Mont Piquet farm in the Western Cape of South Africa. The closest town is Piketberg, 120 km north of Capetown, which lies on the slopes of the Piketberger Mountains.  The name Mont Piquet was chosen because we planned to start a wine cellar and it sounded more refined. The farm is 1000 ha which were formerly used for cereal farming.  Now we cultivate 20 ha of citrus and 88 ha of table grapes.  A former vegetable area was converted to grow food for our ostriches, which we pastures on the previous grain land. 

We are in the fortunate position of having our very own water supply, which comes right from the mountains and is captured in the reservoir right in the middle of our farm. 

We currently farm 12 ha of organic table grapes and we hope to be able to expand that. We make our own compost almost exclusively from ingredients we have on the farm. 

I came to Mont Piquet in 1999, as a production manager.  Now I run the farm operations.  We started converting to organic in 2002, as I had been considering how to be more “green” and do something for soil fertility. 

We employ 50 permanent workers.  During the season of November through February our labor force expands to 500.  85% of our seasonal workers are women.  We value our female workers for their smaller hands and the patience they have to do the manual work required to take care of grape vines. 

Labor is scarce and expensive because our work force does not live near the farm.  We recruit them from the surrounding areas as far as 50 km away.  Over the years we have built up a good reputation since many of the seasonal workers return to work for us year after year. 

We committed years ago to uplifting our employees and now we have gained Fair Trade certification.  Our workers get extra wages.  Plus we have a worker-owned farm store, a competitive league rugby team, and a worker-organized computer room. 

Interview with Hein Koegelenberg

N&M:  Why did you get started with organic?
Hein:  It’s a long story!  Our favorite grape variety is Sunred.  We have 21 ha of Sunred grapes that produce 85,000 cartons.  But they are becoming more difficult to sell and are being replaced with nicer, less labor-intensive varieties. We decided to either take out those vines or try to do something special with them. At the same time, I was thinking of ways we could be more ‘green’.  We decided to give this ‘organic thing’ a try.  We were lucky that we had an experienced neighbor who had been farming organically for several years.  Not only did he provide valuable advice, but we also purchased our first loads of compost from him. 

N&M:  Converting to organic can be a challenge. How has it it worked for you? 
Hein:  The conversion period has to be at least 3 years, as you know.  In our first conversion of Sunred plots, after the 3rd year we had gone from 4000 cartons/ha. to 1900 cartons, a very serious loss of production. Our first thought was,  “This is not going to work!” We nearly gave up.  But we kept on building up the soil and managing the fields according to organic principles.  And the next year was the best yield we ever had – 4600 cartons/ha. Our hopes rose, “This 'thing' could work.”  Sunred organic grapes are something special, an unusual variety for organic, and we were committed.  And now our production is the same or better than conventional plots. 

N&M:  So you are satisfied with the conversion?
Hein:  Yes.  And we have a different approach now.  Since that experience, we do conversions in four years rather than three.  We give the plants a chance to adapt in stages.  In the first year we already begin with compost to increase soil fertility, but we continue with the routine spray programs.  The second year we stop using the chemicals, by which time the soil and vines are much richer and stronger.  We find that we avoid the dip in production and produce delicious fruit from rich soil and sturdy, healthy vines. 

N&M:  What else are you experimenting with now?
Hein:  In order to stretch the harvesting period of our grapes, so that we can supply over a longer period of time, we have modified our pruning regime.  This also allows us to get to market earlier and command a better price. 
And we have planted [barbala?] this year.  This plant produces seeds at same time as our grapes ripen.  We want to see if the birds will leave our grapes alone, and go for the [barbala] seed instead.  This will reduce harvest losses and we hope to use [barbala] as a compost ingredient!

N&M:  Compost has made a huge difference to you.  How do you make compost?
Hein:  All the raw materials are expensive to buy and transport here.  We looked around the farm to see what we already have that we could utilize.  We’ve got weeds along the river, so now we cut them and mulch them to make a base. Then we wondered what we could actually plant ourselves as an ingredient to make compost with.  We get a lot of advice about what to use in compost – but I want 6 or 7 ingredients and no more.  We use what our land provides.  This used to be a wheat farm and there are still lupines left in the soil and they seed themselves every year.  We have a plentiful supply without planting any more.  We cut them down to make compost with.  And we are careful to cut it at the stage where the seeds will fall out.  The movement of the cutting machine scatters the seeds, and our 120 ostriches eat them.  We don’t buy commercial feed for them. 

N&M:  So it’s a self-sustaining cycle?
Hein:  Exactly.  We use our weeds as a raw material.  We scatter the seeds from the lupines, which feed the ostriches, and they re-grow and expand the following year.  And everything left over is used to make compost.  I think, I make a good compost. 

N&M:  In addition to organic certification, Mont Piqute is also fairtrade certified.  What was the motivation behind this?
Hein:  When the farm was taken over by the new owners they wanted to improve the farm infrastucture and to invest in their people.  That is why they built new houses, initiated a crèche, improved the football field, etc.  But they also spent a lot on training the farm workers.  Not only in agricultural practices, but also in management skills so that they can participate better in the organization.  We also instituted a workers committee.  When we later came across fairtrade certification, we realized that our normal way of doing things is very much in line with the fairtrade standards.  But I believe we do much more. 

N&M:  What impact has the fairtrade certification had for the workers of Mont Piquet farm?
Hein: We are passionate about rugby.  There is a farm team (although we do have some people from outside) that is doing very well. They are 1st or 2nd in their league this season.  We organized sponsors for the jerseys.  Fair Trade has taken over the sponsoring –it buys equipment such as jerseys, balls, etc.  The farm still provides the transport to and from the games.  We gave them the exclusive use of the rugby field on the farm.  If they play a game here, they can charge an entrance fee or set up stalls and sell stuff.  All they money they take then goes to support the rugby club. 

N&M:  Thank you Hein. We wish Mont Piquet further success!