JR Van Der Walt
Originally from De Aar, South Africa, JR now lives and works in Scott City, Kansas. He studied agriculture at a boarding school in South Africa before working in the construction and civil engineering fields. Since he began working for Berning Farms in 2023, his responsibilities have included mechanics, shop work, maintenance, operating the live bottoms, hauling grain to the elevator during harvest, box blades, and anything else that comes up.
In South Africa, JR’s family raise sheep on approximately 22,000 acres of pasture. One unique fact about these sheep is their diet consisting of Karoo Bossie plants, which give the meat a unique and wild flavor. He is a motivated, hardworking, positive individual and has a nature knack at completing projects efficiently and effectively. He enjoys the outdoors, farming, and considers Kansas’ wind to be the worst aspect of living here. JR and his wife Ilze enjoy traveling to the mountains to ride dirt bikes, look forward to their next visit in South Africa, and have hopes of farming for themselves one day.