Wim Keijzer (61) has had a Potato market subscription at Boerenbusiness† He uses the knowledge he gains to trade in the futures markets to hedge as many emerging risks as possible.
Keijzer runs an arable and poultry farm together with his two sons Frank and Martijn. He has put a lot of time into developing the company.
"I am proud that I can pass such a company on to my sons at this time. I hope that they can continue this business and I have every confidence in that!"
What is the background of your farm?
"My parents came to the Polder from South Holland in 1968 via a triangle exchange. In 2006 we were approached if we wanted to hand in our old company in Biddinghuizen for the construction of a golf course. As a tenant you obviously don't have much at that time. The domains had one company on offer and that was this company in Dronten. We also took over the poultry company at that time. I actually had no experience at all with chickens; yes, four chickens on a stick, but that is of course very what else. The farm we are on now is quite a bit bigger and offers more opportunities, especially with an eye to the future generation. At the moment we have a lease farm of 57 hectares with more than 17.500 chicks. The arable farm is switching from conventional to organic, we will only be fully organic in three years' time, so this is what we are looking at.Finally, we have also been hoeing quite a lot of onions outside the home for two years now; we have a spec Bought a tractor with a hoe underneath. There is a lot of demand for it at the moment and that is only going to increase."
How long have you been in the futures market?
"We have been trading on the futures market for years. Many people are wary of this, they see too many risks. You should not jump further than the pole is long. That is why I use the information about the stock two or three times a day. futures market on Boerenbusiness† This allows me to cover the risks that others see, in my opinion. The subscription is therefore a meaningful contribution to my company and the way in which it runs."
Where is the focus within the company?
"As a company, we don't want to distinguish ourselves from other companies in the sector, we just want to do our thing well and don't have to be at the forefront if necessary. We want to keep the company up-to-date, clean and tidy and good financial results I find important points in this: cleanliness on the land, taking good care of your soil and trying to burden nature as little as possible while still getting the most out of it. I want to achieve this together with my two sons; by being frugal, hard to work and try to create a little happiness. You can't force nature, but you still hope to achieve good yields through land management that also happen to be sold at the right time. To be able to realize this completely, I get the information and knowledge from the concluded subscription, with this I still have some control over when I think I can best sell the products."
What are the future challenges for you?
"The current challenges mainly lie with the poultry house. At the moment we have NSK (New Standard Chicken), so more space and toys in the house. In the future - in January 2023 - they want to go to Better Life 1 star to go. The yard offers space to build a covered run, but we also look seriously at organic broilers. The disadvantage is that we then have to reserve 4,5 hectares of our land as an area for the chicks. An advantage is that we can then use our own poultry manure on the arable part of our company. These challenges therefore also entail great opportunities. It's difficult and not everyone wants or can do this, but for us it could be something for the future in practical terms."