Friday March 20th
Thanks for the hospitality and tour provided by 2015 Nuffield Scholar, Guus Mensink. Guus and his brother have a very nice dairy farm in Dedemsvaart, Netherlands. They have a very impressive holstein dairy herd. Milking is performed by 4 robotic milkers, one of many examples of new technology and innovation that the brothers embrace as part of running their farm. Guus took some time out of his busy schedule to take me to the farm of Pieter Evenhuis. Peter produces processing potatoes and starch potatoes. We had a great chat and tour of his storage, washing / grading equipment and field equipment. He produces potatoes in a 1 in 4 year rotation with corn. We had a very open discussion about challenges and opportunities. Peter is optimistic about the future of the potato industry. He believes the most significant key success factor will be the development of new varieities that will better meet the needs of his customers. From a production point of view nematodes are a concern.
Thanks again to Guus for hosting me and the tour. He has a successful future ahead! Best wishes and congratulations to Guus and Judith who will be getting married in the near future.
Saturday March 21st
I travelled to Zeewolde, Holland to visit with 2015 Nuffield Scholar Gerjan Snippe of Bio Brass who grows organic vegetables. Gerjan provided an excellent overview of his business and how it has grown in recent years. His growth and focus on organic production is the result of a keen focus on consumer needs. His business is very market oriented. I was very impressed. He is very optimistic about the future growth of the business and believes keeping customer focused and quality products will be key success factors.
Gerjan introduced me to Johan Middelkamp. It is a small world. Johan works for McCain in Holland, but he and his two sons Chiel and Eelco also operate Middelkamp Organics back home in PEI. Johan was gracious to take me for some visits to a couple potato farms in the area. The first farm was that of Douwe Monsma. He gave me a tour of his modern storage facility and showed some of his equipment. Douwe is producing organic potatoes. Late Blight is an on-going challenge, however Douwe seems to be managing this pest as well as other pests and fertility needs on an organic basis well. He is optimistic about the growth of the organic potato market while the conventionally grown potato market has been declining. He is well positioned to meet this growing market. Johan then took me to the farm of Egbert Koops. Egbert is Fred Koops (HZPC PEI) brother. He had a relatively new storage for onions and potatoes. It was very nice warehouse.
I will stay Sunday (today) near The Hague, Netherlands for a meeting Monday morning with the producers association NAO/NIVAA. After that back to Gent, Belgium to return the rental car and travel Tuesday by train to the UK! I have visits lined up next week with World Potato News, Produce World, Manor Fresh, Farmcare, Potato Council, NFU and Leaf.
Thanks for the hospitality and tour provided by 2015 Nuffield Scholar, Guus Mensink. Guus and his brother have a very nice dairy farm in Dedemsvaart, Netherlands. They have a very impressive holstein dairy herd. Milking is performed by 4 robotic milkers, one of many examples of new technology and innovation that the brothers embrace as part of running their farm. Guus took some time out of his busy schedule to take me to the farm of Pieter Evenhuis. Peter produces processing potatoes and starch potatoes. We had a great chat and tour of his storage, washing / grading equipment and field equipment. He produces potatoes in a 1 in 4 year rotation with corn. We had a very open discussion about challenges and opportunities. Peter is optimistic about the future of the potato industry. He believes the most significant key success factor will be the development of new varieities that will better meet the needs of his customers. From a production point of view nematodes are a concern.
Thanks again to Guus for hosting me and the tour. He has a successful future ahead! Best wishes and congratulations to Guus and Judith who will be getting married in the near future.
Saturday March 21st
I travelled to Zeewolde, Holland to visit with 2015 Nuffield Scholar Gerjan Snippe of Bio Brass who grows organic vegetables. Gerjan provided an excellent overview of his business and how it has grown in recent years. His growth and focus on organic production is the result of a keen focus on consumer needs. His business is very market oriented. I was very impressed. He is very optimistic about the future growth of the business and believes keeping customer focused and quality products will be key success factors.
Gerjan introduced me to Johan Middelkamp. It is a small world. Johan works for McCain in Holland, but he and his two sons Chiel and Eelco also operate Middelkamp Organics back home in PEI. Johan was gracious to take me for some visits to a couple potato farms in the area. The first farm was that of Douwe Monsma. He gave me a tour of his modern storage facility and showed some of his equipment. Douwe is producing organic potatoes. Late Blight is an on-going challenge, however Douwe seems to be managing this pest as well as other pests and fertility needs on an organic basis well. He is optimistic about the growth of the organic potato market while the conventionally grown potato market has been declining. He is well positioned to meet this growing market. Johan then took me to the farm of Egbert Koops. Egbert is Fred Koops (HZPC PEI) brother. He had a relatively new storage for onions and potatoes. It was very nice warehouse.
I will stay Sunday (today) near The Hague, Netherlands for a meeting Monday morning with the producers association NAO/NIVAA. After that back to Gent, Belgium to return the rental car and travel Tuesday by train to the UK! I have visits lined up next week with World Potato News, Produce World, Manor Fresh, Farmcare, Potato Council, NFU and Leaf.