About Us
Our People
We love farming and everything that goes with it – the warm sunshine, the smell of the soil, and the ache in our muscles at the
end of a good day's work. We love the gusty wind, dust and lightning that announces the arrival of precious rain.
We love the intellectual demands of understanding soil fertility, the role of micro-organisms and ecosystem relationships.
The miracle that happens when tiny seeds burst into life keeps us going daily.
The farmersend of a good day's work. We love the gusty wind, dust and lightning that announces the arrival of precious rain.
We love the intellectual demands of understanding soil fertility, the role of micro-organisms and ecosystem relationships.
The miracle that happens when tiny seeds burst into life keeps us going daily.
Jan Stiglingh
Jan Stiglingh, managing director and founder of Lucerne Fields, is an avid farmer passionate about the agriculture sector and people alike. Jan's vision and love of the land he was raised in led to establishing one of Botswana's foremost agriculture enterprises.
Lucerne Fields reflects Jan's courage, determination and commitment to building a successful, sustainable farming business that contributes to the region's economic, social and environmental well-being. His perseverance and leadership abilities motivate the management team and staff to go the extra mile despite the numerous daily food production difficulties in a challenging environment.
Not afraid to make bold decisions, Jan believes in making long-term investments to respond to industry needs. He is known to build solid and reliable relationships with staff, suppliers and clients, which is one of the foundations of the business.
Manjo Stiglingh
Director Manjo Stiglingh joined the company in 2020. She supports the operational management activities on the farm and is responsible for developing and implementing the sustainability agenda at Lucerne Fields. Her experience in the international organic agriculture sector contributes to the latest research on deploying organic and regenerative agriculture interventions, which are critical to improving the farm's resilience to climate change and reducing business risk.
Manjo is passionate about food value chains that support flourishing ecosystems, share prosperity on all levels, and provide nutritious food that is safe, healthy, accessible, and affordable.
Pako Pethogo
A graduate of Crop Farming Trade from Shoshong Brigades, Botswana, Pako Phetogo joined Lucerne Fields in 2015 to take on the challenging production task. Pako knows the critical steps to ensure that tiny seeds can grow and thrive immediately after settling in the loamy soil.
Year-round production of carrots and beetroot in Southern Africa can be challenging. Pako utilises his skills and agriculture production knowledge gained over the years to care for the growing crops through drought, heatwaves, excessive rain, pests, diseases and whatever nature throws at us.
The Lucerne Fields Motswana team
If it weren't for the exhaustive efforts of the Lucerne Fields team, there would be no farm and no food. The Motswana team of 150 workers, of which 60% is female,
starts working at the crack of dawn to ensure that the vegetables are planted, irrigated, weeded, harvested, sorted, hydro-cooled and packed. They ensure that consumers can get "a handful of health" on their plates every day.
Our Land
Our farm in the Tuli Block covers 220 hectares of irrigated vegetables, cover crops, pasture and natural vegetation next to the Limpopo River. The river serves as the border between Botswana and South Africa. We are located next to the main road, 5 kilometres from the Martin's Drift Border Post, which is accessible by tarred road from South Africa and all the major cities across Botswana.
Our commercial herd grazes on 14 000 hectares of land in the Botswana Sandveld, situated east of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The natural veld is characterised by its year-round good grazing.
Sustainability
We follow sustainable agriculture principles to produce nutrient-dense food by making efficient use of resources and respecting the environment. Our goal is to sustain the economic viability of our farms and enhance the quality of life for the people and community around us.
Our Methods
Farming practices
We aim to develop a resilient farming system by following an integrated farming approach with the synergistic production of vegetables, fodder and livestock. We rotate carrot and beetroot production with pastures and multi-specie cover crops grazed by our Limousin cattle.
Soil fertility
Healthy and fertile soil leads to increased farm productivity through higher crop yields, good forage quality for animals, and reduced risk of harvest losses. We are building our soil fertility by combining organic and chemical fertilisers, applying compost, and planting multi-species cover crops.
Cover crops for sustainability and biodiversity
With multi-species cover crops, we are not only producing fodder for the cattle, but we are also:- Building soil fertility by planting nitrogen fixing and other multi-specie cover crops
- Reducing soil-borne diseases by improving soil health through increasing and nurturing the soil’s diverse microbial life
- Improving the soil’s water infiltration capacity to prevent run-off during heavy rainfall events
- Increasing the land’s ability to filter and retain water, making the farm more resilient to drought and floods
- Increase the carbon in the soil (carbon sequestration)
- Increase the farm’s insect biodiversity to reduce pests and increase the vulnerable insect population
Quality Management
The Lucerne Fields pack-house operates world-class equipment, including a washer, polisher, hydro-cooler and refrigeration units to ensure that we can deliver the highest quality products to our clients. Most wholesale buyers now require that fresh produce items be properly and thoroughly cooled before they are shipped to market to minimise product losses due to quality problems.
Our B-Fresh Carrots and Beetroot is currently the only hydro-cooled products in Botswana!
What is hydro-cooling?
Most fresh fruits and vegetables require thorough cooling immediately after harvest to deliver fresh products of the highest quality to the consumer.
Our advanced hydro-cooling equipment produces chilled water. Our carrots and beetroot move with a conveyor belt through a shower of 2 degrees Celcius chilled water for approximately 30 minutes. This process lengthens the shelf life, delaying the inevitable quality decline of produce.
This means long-lasting freshness!