Namibia Agriculture Union News

WEEKLY NEWS – 7 October 2011

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: TIME IS MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY. YOU CAN GET MORE MONEY, BUT NOT MORE TIME – Jim Rohn

In today’s newsletter –

·         Meatco General Meeting

·         NAU & LPO Congresses 2011

·         FA and other news

Meatco General Meeting

An urgent notification is given for a general meeting of Meatco which will be held on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 10:00 at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort. The meeting is convened to discuss the restructuring of the ownership of Meatco.

All Meatco producers are encouraged to attend this very important meeting. For further details contact EbbenKalondo, Tel 081 1270010, VehakaTjimune, Tel 081 2683503 orCyprianusKhaiseb, Tel 081 1287408.

NAU & LPO Congresses 2011

The annual Congresses of the NAU and the LPO will be held next week Tuesday to Thursday at the Arebbush Travel Lodge, Windhoek. The LPO Congress starts on Tuesday morning under the theme “Optimal Meat Production” whilst the NAU Congress starts on Wednesday afternoon under the theme “Agricultural Growth central to Employment Creation”.

A general discussion point about employment creation in the agricultural sector will serve as stimulus for the delegates to reflect on how the agricultural sector can contribute towards the national problem of employment creation in the country. Mr Tom Alweendo, the Director General of the National Planning Commission which stands central to the TIPEEG program (Target Intervention Program for Employment and Economic Growth) of the state, will be the guest speaker on Wednesday evening at the official opening. Prof Johan Willemse, a well known agricultural economist of the University of the Free State will elaborate further the theme on Thursday morning where after congress delegates will get the opportunity to make recommendations on this important subject.

MrPoenaPotgieter, the chairperson of the Meat Board will be the opening speaker at the LPO Congress whilst Dr Willem Schultheiss, a retired veterinarian from South Africa, will talk about record keeping as instrument for optimal meat production.

During both Congresses the president of the NAU and also the chairman of the LPO will give feedback about the activities of these organizations during the past year. Both Congresses promise to be interesting and we trust that delegate of the Farmers Associations and guests will have something to reflect on.

We say thank you

The van Wyk family, Rynault and Elfriede would like to express their sincere and greatest appreciation towards the farming community of Dordabis and Uhlenhorst for their brave, fearless and fast actions during the fire which was started by lightning on Thursday, September 29, on the farm Klein-Nauas / Kiripotip and surrounding farms. The golden rule of “under normal circumstances it is my land, but if a natural disaster threatens, it belongs to all of us” was here applicable. Nothing was spared, not you and your workers, your vehicles, petrol, hose machines, nothing was spared, but we could not THANK you, as you were in the trenches until the early hours. Really team work. And you did ask for nothing, only gave …. Again our greatest gratitude.

Special acknowledgement to Frikkie Engels, who, like a fight general gave orders and guidelines to his troops on his call radio. Our biggest gratitude to the Heavenly Father, you can see His Hand here, no loss of stock, or I am not aware of any.

With thanks: Rynault and Elfriede, Allistaire and Megan van Wyk

We say thank you

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped during the fire on Thursday evening, September 29, 2011 and Friday, September 30, 2011 on the farms Goliath, Klein Nouas, Kiripotip, Albano&LauwaterSud. Without everybody’s help and fast reaction the damages would have been much worse.

Frikkie and Annetjie Engels (LauwaterSud)

FA and other news

Witvlei FA is holding a meeting on October 19 at 15:00 at the farmer house at Witvlei. Guest speaker is MrMerweFourie who will talk about FANMeateartags and scanners. For further details contact Monica Bouwer, Tel 062 570317, gmbouwer@iway.na.

Karibib FA is holding a meeting on October 22 at 17:00 at Farm Habis of Dr H Schneider. For further details contact Mr Swart, Tel 061 241191.

The 2012 Meatco Inter Farmers Association braai competition will be held on March 31, 2012 at the Keetmanshoop Show Grounds. The theme is “//karas” (which means Kokerboom). Exhibitors can book their exhibition space now already. Entries for the braai teams close on February 15, 2011 and further details can be obtained from Willem Steenkamp, Tel 063 280655, 081 3194062, Toulon@iway.na. or Brenda Kotze, Tel 063 281208, 081 2277735, kalahari@iway.na.