[caption id="attachment_439" align="alignnone" width="2464"] 2FM63E9 Jody Scheckter on his farm Laverstoke Park farm in Hampshire pic David Sandison[/caption] A PRIOR The former Formula One world champion is currently having great success managing an organic farm that specializes in making ice cream and buffalo mozzarella. From 1972 until 1980, this driver, now 73, competed in Formula One, taking home the Drivers' Championship in 1979 with Ferrari. And he continues to retain a special position in history as the only South African to ever be named F1 king. Prior to retiring in 1980, he raced for teams like McLaren, Tyrell, and Wolf before finishing his career at Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix and finished on the podium 33 times in all. The legend continued to cover the sport for a number of broadcasters, but is now setting the pace in a very new way. The individual in question is Jody Scheckter, who held the title of Ferrari's last champion until the renowned Michael Schumacher broke a 21-year drought in 2000. He initially immigrated to America after a successful racing career, where he established a business manufacturing guns for the police and military. Then he made the decision to move to Hampshire, England, where he purchased 500 acres of land. Scheckter planned to construct a farm to provide organic, wholesome food for his family, but he soon realized that an excessive amount of meat would be wasted. As a result, he bought the adjoining Laverstoke Park Farm, which spans 2,500 acres of land and is now well-known throughout the UK. Every year, it holds the three-day CarFest South festival, which attracts over 28,000 visitors and involves music, automobiles, and other events to support BBC Children in Need and other children's charities. Additionally, Sugar Free Farm, a popular ITV program, is based there. On it, Scheckter constructed a charcuterie plant and a slaughterhouse; today, the company also produces mozzarella and ice cream. He told NS Agriculture: “I have always felt organic is the best way to ensure that – and I still believe that now. “We decided to cut down on a lot of our products that were not making money.

“At one point we had over 120 products in the online supermarket Ocado because we were producing a lot in the abattoir, but it was crazy.

“So now we’re concentrating on our buffalo mozzarella and ice cream.

“Pret a Manger has been our biggest customer and, alongside Ocado, we’re now in Waitrose and many restaurants.”

Scheckter pumped his own money into the farm for over 12 years but eventually realised the business had to stand on its own feet. Laverstoke now has around 1,000 ewes, 25 rams and is expected to have over 1,500 lambs after the spring. It also has around 23 native Angus cows, an Angus bull and 450 water buffaloes. Scheckter added: “Now we are a normal farm and it is now making a profit, because it is running as a farm instead of producing for the factories.