The people behind every flight.

A full-time agronomist and extensionist with Langfontein Seeds on the Eastern Highveld and Northern KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Bruwer specialises in summer grain crop production and has spent his career championing soil and crop management as the foundation of sustainable farming — from large commercial operations down to small-scale growers.

• PhD, Sustainable Agriculture
• Senior Lecturer, University of the Free State
• Pr.Ext.Sci — SASAE
• 2022 National Agriculturalist of the Year

He obtained a Hons BSc Agric at the UFS in 1989 and furthered his studies in 2020 to complete a Master’s degree (with distinction) in Sustainable Agriculture. He also holds a PhD in Sustainable Agriculture.

As an advocate of true science, he researched different models of dissemination in certain sectors of the agricultural industry in South Africa. His research reaffirmed the role of the extensionist and advisor as the link between the researcher and the farmer. Dr Bruwer has presented his findings to several institutions where he promotes a systems-approach as particularly successful.

He is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development at the University of the Free State, where he is the founder of the Bruwer Legacy Trust — a trust that promotes and rewards academic excellence. Dr Bruwer formed part of a team from various departments at the University of the Free State (UFS) who claimed victory in the prestigious Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Challenge, a global competition that unites students and organisations to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

Dr Bruwer is a member of the management team for the TAGDev 2.0 programme, which aims to equip and empower Africa’s youth and their institutions to lead inclusive, equitable, and climate-resilient socio-economic transformation within their communities. He contributed as a co-author to the publication “Empowering Smallholder Farmers Through Crop-Based Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Approaches.” He also forms part of the Doctoral Review Team within the Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Development at the UFS, and acts as a reviewer of peer-reviewed articles for the South African Journal of Agricultural Extension (SAJAE).

Dr Bruwer is involved in a number of research projects ranging from plant nutrition to pest and disease control, and is a registered Professional Extension Scientist (Pr.Ext.Sci) with the South African Society of Agricultural Extensionists (SASAE). He is an accredited advisor with CropLife SA and The Fertilizer Association of South Africa (FERTASA), and holds membership with The Soil Science Society of South Africa (SSSSA), The South African Society of Crop Production (SASCP) and The South African Sugar Industry Agronomists’ Association (SASIAA).

In 2022, Dr Bruwer was announced by Agricultural Writers South Africa (AWSA) as National Agriculturalist of the Year, and Agriculturalist of the Year for the province of Mpumalanga — awards given to those who have made it their life’s work to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture in South Africa. He was also awarded the University of the Free State Alumni’s Chancellor’s Distinguished Cum Laude Award, one of the highest honours accorded to an alumnus, and has been nominated for the Best Doctoral Thesis award and the Outstanding Contributions by an Individual award, both presented by the Oil and Protein Seeds Development Trust / Oilseeds Advisory Committee (OPDT/OAC).