“The Botha family has been farming at Stettyn since 1818. Venturing into pome fruit production so late also allowed him to learn from other farmers’ experiences. When he finally does talk about pome fruit production, this farmer, who only ventured into pome fruit production in 2012, makes little of the prestigious award: “We only have 21ha under apples and pears, making it much easier to keep a grip on quality than if the farm was bigger,” says Botha. Hendrik Botha and his faithful dog, Bacchus, which accompanies him everywhere he goes on the farm. Botha recently won the Tru-Cape Award for the highest number of class-one pack-outs and income per hectare for apples.
