"Boerdery is die beroep waar jy die naaste aan die Here is. So sien jy eintlik hoe afhanklik jy van Hom is. Jy kan beplan en bestuur so goed as wat jy kan, maar Hy is eintlik in beheer.”
Rudolf is ‘n Daniel Pienaar-man wat op Uitenhage groot geword het. Sy pa woon steeds op Rocklands buite Uitenhage en ry elke dag werkers aan Melon toe. Rudolf en sy vrou, Ilana, en hul vier kinders woon op Humansdorp. "Dis vir my lekker om die werk by die werk te los en huis toe te gaan. Ek geniet dit om te ontspan saam met my gesin by die huis.”
Die plaas het 105ha inlysting vir sowat 200ha wat besproei moet word en Rudolf sê dit kos fyn beplanning. "Die klimaat gaan van uiterste tot uiterste. Een jaar het ons vloede en die volgende jaar droogte. In 2010 moes ons met 30% van ons kwota regkom gedurende die droogte. Ons moet net goed beplan.”
Hy is baie positief oor die boerdery. "Ek leer elke jaar iets nuuts, en maak elke jaar nuwe foute. Dis goed om by die ouer generasie te leer, maar jy moet dit eers self doen om dit te verstaan.”
"Die grootste les wat ek by my pa geleer het, is geduld. Hy het die wêreld se geduld. Ons is so afhanklik van die natuur en sy tyd, dat dit nie help om haastig te wil wees nie.”
"Farming is probably the job that enables you to work nearest to God. Every day you see how dependent you are on Him. It does not matter how much you plan or manage. He is still in control".
Rudolf matriculated at Daniel Pienaar Technical High School in Uitenhage. His father still lives in Rocklands near Uithenhage and brings workers to Melon every day. Rudolf and his wife, Ilana, and their four children live in Humansdorp. "It is good to leave work on the farm and go home. I enjoy it to relax with my family at home".
The farm has 105ha water allocated (listing) for about 200ha that needs irrigation and Rudolf says it takes a lot of good planning. "The climate goes from one extreme to the other. One year we have floods and the next drought. In around 2010 we had to work with only 30% of our quota during the drought. "
He is very positive about farming. "I learn something new every year, and every year I make new mistakes. It is good to learn from the older generation, but you only understand it when you do it yourself."
"The greatest lesson I have learnt from my father is patience. We are so dependent on nature and its timing, it does not help to be hasty."