The company of Ruud Broeren (35) from Zeewolde has a special combination: fattening pigs and arable farming. He keeps this company running with his three employees and his father who still does the administration. Broeren has had a Pigs and Feed Pro subscription for over twelve years and three years ago also Arable Pro locked.
Current market information in the arable and pig sector is very valuable to Broeren in the decisions to be made and the course the company is taking.
Can you tell us more about your company?
"I have a fattening pig and arable farm in Zeewolde. Our arable farm consists of 64 hectares. We grow potatoes, onions, sugar beet and winter wheat and have 13.000 fattening pigs. Within our company we have a feed kitchen for our own feed and a windmill runs in the yard. This whole originated from 2500 fattening pigs and 64 hectares of arable farming, which we started when we came to Zeewolde from our company in Wijchen. Over the years we have therefore mainly grown in the area of fattening pig farming."
How often do you check the website? Boerenbusiness.NL?
"I visit the website on a daily basis. I mainly go to the general page and from there I click through to all the articles. The stock exchange quotations are also very important and interesting to me. In pig farming I am mainly focused on healthy pigs and a good living environment for them. Actually, in my view, the standard things are: a good climate, good management and good feed. In arable farming, the focus is mainly on the soil. We want to treat the soil well, keep the soil in top condition and fertilize well. Of course you do that with pig manure. To keep all this going, I can use the information from my subscriptions. All in all I can say that Boerenbusiness is a good platform for all the general things that are going on in the sector and the market developments that are taking place. It makes a meaningful contribution to my company in terms of information provision."
In which area do you want to distinguish yourself?
"We can proudly distinguish ourselves in the field of the circular cycle that our company carries out in the area. We purchase grain in the area, this is a large component of our feed that we produce within the company. we then deliver the pigs to various wheat fields in the area. Such a local cycle is unique for a pig farm. In the future I want to continue to optimize in order to belong to the top of the Netherlands. We have the wish to expand the arable acreage as that is possible. We do not need to expand immediately in the pigs, we find those numbers enough at the moment."
Which market developments are important to keep track of?
"The information on the website of Boerenbusiness helps me to keep abreast of current market developments. At the moment, this mainly has to do with what the pig market in the Netherlands and abroad will do. Swine fever is also an important market development. Will this road stay out of the Netherlands? For us, these are developments that can have a major impact on the results of our company. The challenge in arable farming is that you can still grow a good and storable product with fewer and fewer pesticides. We keep a close eye on the biological world, because everything we can learn from it is a plus."