Free State Business 2023

OVERVIEW
Agroprocessing is an important part of the Free State economy.
The production lines of the Bethlehem Sasko Mill process about
144 tons of wheat every year. Credit: SASKO
As part of the agri-parks programme a warehouse is under
construction at Springfontein and the Thaba Nchu abattoir is being
upgraded. In Sediba, Farmer Production Support Units supplied a
tractor and implements to participants.
Private companies
The SASKO Bethlehem Mill has a total of 96 employees and mills 144 000
tons of wheat every year. Bethlehem was chosen because of its proximity
to excellent wheat-producing areas and for its strategic location in terms
of logistics: the busy N3 freeway is just 90km away.
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has plans to double volumes of grain
transported out of its Bethlehem facility. VKB Agriculture is one of the
companies that will benefit if TFR can increase its capacity to 550 000
tons for the season, as it plans.
VKB is already a diverse group, with the capacity to produce
soybean meal and soybean cake and flour from its plants, mills
and factories. Grain Field Chickens, a large abattoir in Reitz, is one
of the company’s biggest facilities in the province. The Industrial
Development Corporation (IDC), which has a 23% stake in the project,
aims to help develop the Free State as the poultry hub of South Africa.
VKB has six agro-processing companies including VKB Flour Mills and
Free State Oil and is active in auctioning, storage, packaging and fuel
sales, among other activities. VKB’s headquarters are in Reitz in the
eastern part of the province and the group is one of the province’s
largest employers.
The Imbani Homsek Group is an integrated dairy-products
producer with one of the biggest Ayrshire herds in the world. The
head office of Country Bird Holdings is in Bloemfontein: its brands
are Supreme Chicken, Nutri Feeds and Ross (breeding). Country Bird
Logistics controls 45 chilled and frozen vans.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Agricultural Research Council: www.arc.agri.za
Bothaville: www.bothaville.info
Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development:
www.ard.fs.gov.za
Grain SA: www.grainsa.co.za
Clover has three factories
in the Free State: Bethlehem
(milk powder, whey mixtures
and creamers); Frankfort (butter,
the largest such factory in
the country, where ghee and
roller dried milk powder is also
made) and in Heilbron (whey,
buttermilk, condensed milk and
packaging).
Bothaville hosts the country’s
largest agricultural festival,
NAMPO Harvest Day. Bothaville
falls under the North West in
the organisational chart of giant
agricultural company Senwes,
which has its headquarters in
Klerksdorp. The rest of the Free
State is divided into three regions
by Senwes, which deals with about
20% of the country’s oilseeds and
grain through its 68 silos.
The province supplies
significant proportions of
the nation’s sorghum (53%),
sunflowers (45%), potatoes
(33%), groundnuts (32%), dry
beans (26%), wool (24%) and
almost all of its cherries (90%).
Red meat and dairy are other
important products. Game
hunting is a significant sector,
and several large Free State farms
have been converted from stock
to game farms.
Crop production represents
about two-thirds of the
province’s gross agricultural
income. The main crops are
maize and wheat. Sunflowers,
sunflower seeds, sorghum
and soy beans are other major
crops. The Mangaung Fresh
Produce Market plays a vital
role in the sector, catering as
it does to householders, bulk
buyers, informal traders, agents
and farmers. ■
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FREE STATE BUSINESS 2023