The family farming network Saai and Buffelsfontein Brandewyn on 13 September launched Lamb Champs season 2 at Buffelsfontein Beesboerdery in Pretoria. Lamb Champs is the official search for the tastiest lamb in South Africa.
The event was attended by prospective sponsors, family farmers, friends of family farmers and the 2022 top three. The winner was Nathan Naudé of Nitique Farming, Kriegerspoort in the Northern Cape, in the second place was Gawie van Heerden of Consortium Merino, Dombietersfontein in the Northern Cape, and Hennie Jonker from Kroonstad in the Free State was third.
During the function, master of ceremonies Minki van der Westhuizen announced that the first episode of the new series would be broadcasted on 27 May 2023. In this series, Meyer le Roux from the Buffelsfontein Group will visit nine farmers participating in the competition, one in each of the nine provinces. These visits will be recorded for a Lamb Champs social media series that will be available weekly for free on social media.
“Our initial goal with Lamb Champs in 2022 was to find the tastiest lamb in South Africa and to strengthen sheep farmers’ market and pricing ability. In 2023 we will add a third component to season 2, namely, to help protect the social infrastructure in small towns through fundraising initiatives. We want to do more than help family farmers with the practical challenges on their farms because this is not enough to stop the rapid rate of urbanisation. We also want to strengthen the hands of those institutions meeting the social needs of farmers and their families because in their absence, farmers and their families will continue to leave their farms and sell or rent them out or use them for weekend getaways. We must make the countryside the first choice for family farmers and their families,” says Francois Rossouw, CEO of Saai.
The final competition for season 2 will be held on 29 July 2023 at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria. On this day, 100 family farmers from all over South Africa will spit-roast lambs, and a panel of 25 food and meat experts will judge each individually to determine the winner. Only 5 000 guests can attend the event and taste some of the meat while various artists entertain them.
Saai would like to invite farmers from all over South Africa to enter the competition. The prize amounts to R50 000 and a prestigious trophy worth R80 000 sculpted by Nic van Rensburg. Farmers and prospective sponsors can apply on Lamb Champs’ website at www.lambchamps.co.za. Members of the public can also buy their tickets to attend the final competition on the website.
