Quinten Somers
Quinten is a born Piketberger. He matriculated from Steynville Secondary High School and pursued a BTech Degree in Commercial Education and National Teaching Diploma at Cape Technikon (present day CPUT). What he loves about Piketberg is the peace and calm, the greenness of the mountain throughout the year, and the friendliness of the people.
He worked for ABSA Bank Limited for 23 years, first as a credit clerk and later as a business banker. Financing of production costs, farms, as well as machinery and implements comprised the majority of his duties as a business banker.
Quinten joined Agrisell on 1 July 2022 and he focuses on agricultural properties in the West Coast area.
He believes that renewable energy (solar and wind) farms and narrowing the farm to table supply chain are some of the opportunities for the agricultural sector in his area.
He has a general passion for agriculture and the creativity it engages: 'It fascinates me how someone can picture something on an undeveloped stretch of land, and then when you return a few years later that farmer has developed the land into a farm.' Contemporary farming trends that catches his interest are organic and vertical farming, for example, the growing of lettuce in urban areas instead of vast acreages. His exposure and experience have taught him that leveraging technology and managing costs are two keys to 'boer vooruit'.
Quinten is married to Catherine. They have a daughter, Quinita, and a son, Cameron. He enjoys spending time with his family, especially if they can pass the time in Lamberts Bay and Elands Bay. Qinten likes to read and loves history. One of his favourite books of all time is Peter Thiel's From Zero to One. He is currently reading Malcom Gladwell's Outliers.
His motto is a bit of sound advice from Warren Buffet: 'Before you buy anything, wait a week.'