Boerenbussiness visited Johan Hanse, who runs their 200-hectare arable farm in partnership with his brothers Ad and Henry and son Jasper - who, as it now seems, will also become a successor. He has had a subscription with . for more than twelve years Boerenbusiness. He uses this to keep track of the price formation for the products within the company. In addition, he is always interested in reading stories about other farmers and the developments within their company.
The Hanse family originally comes from Noord-Beverland in Zeeland, but due to a land consolidation that took place in 1968, they ended up on the current 56-hectare company in Biddinghuizen. In 1988 the three brothers bought an additional 48 hectare company in the Noordoostpolder. The oldest brother, Ad, lives there now. Over the years they have expanded further, started to rent and the brothers entered into partnership, creating an acreage of 200 hectares.
How do you want to distinguish yourself?
"We want to achieve distinction by growing as many different crops as possible. That way there is always something that the company does well. At the moment we mainly grow seed onions, ware potatoes, seed potatoes, winter carrots, chicory, sugar beet, flax and winter wheat. In our opinion, this is a whole list of different crops. When renting land, we also pay very close attention to the quality of the soil, we try to keep it as high as possible, of course. These are usually not the largest pieces, so that is very laborious. Finally, we also want to carry out the seed potato cultivation, which is 24 hectares of our company, as well as possible and get a name for it. All in all, this cultivation also has great costs within our company."
What do you think are important points in the company?
"I find keeping up with pricing very interesting and important when growing crops. That's why I check the website of Boerenbusiness, I also listen to the information that Pieter Post provides weekly and I always keep an eye on the Crop Tour. I am very satisfied with the subscription that I have taken out: Arable farming Pro."
"In my view, speculation is very important in keeping the company going. We also have the chips potatoes that we grow 100% for the pool and which are subdivided at the Schaap company, because we now have box storage at home. The other parcels go to Aviko, which is simply dumped in bulk. The pool provides the company with a certain degree of certainty, which I think is important, but in recent years we have mainly done onion and carrot cultivation to keep things going. We can rake in something there."
What else do you pay attention to?
"Looking around the world is very important to us, in view of market developments. We want to keep an eye on the Eastern Bloc countries and all European countries. Is it dry there? Is it wet there? And are places still flooded? In short: try the market But that's difficult, that's why keeping an eye on the futures market on this platform is very important in my eyes. I also like to read about others how things are going in their company. It really helps within my company. This allows me to build a network. I find it valuable to stay informed and apply it within the company."
How do you see the future?
"In the coming years we may want to develop more in mechanical cooling for the chips potatoes and possibly also for the onions. In addition, we naturally also want to continue to focus on distinguishing within the sector in the future. Quality is paramount here. costs within the company are extremely high, but if you then have good prices, that doesn't say everything."
"I see a bright future, because fortunately we have a successor as it seems now! Jasper, my son, is terribly ambitious and that carries us along and also keeps us young. Sometimes we have to slow him down, he has so many looking forward to, he never knows no end, always more. In our view, this is a very good sign."