Oja Farms has always been a family business. Brothers Jannie and Martin Cloete are the fourth generation of farmers on the farm Leeuwpoortjie, which is situated in the heart of the Mpumalanga Highveld.

It all started in 1950 when Leeuwpoortjie, rich in good soil and spring water, was purchased by their great grandfather Willem Bierman, where traditional cattle and maize crops were farmed. In 2007, Soya beans were introduced as a rotating crop which reaped great success.

With the current economic environment in South Africa, the brothers opted to set up a soya plant on the farm which proved to be very successful. Rich in vitamins and minerals, soya is an excellent food supplement and highest and most economical protein available globally. The soya plant served as an excellent job creation project and enabled the brothers to cut-out the middle man and offer a range of well-priced soya products direct to the end consumer.

These two modern farmer brothers didn’t stop there.  In 2017, Jannie and Martin extended the farm by growing strawberries, which is a first for the Highveld area. Leeuwpoortjie is now a commercial farm, buzzing with soya and strawberry crops, a processing plant developing new ranges on a regular basis and still keeping close to their roots, the maize and cattle fields.