Trudy De Jong (40) has a conventional arable farm in Zuid-Beijerland. She is known on social media as De Hoeksche Boerin and she gives her followers a glimpse into daily life on the farm. Trudy took the Spuit Academy course. In this article she talks about her vision for the future of crop protection and how the course has contributed to this.
The course of the Squirt Academy consists of six course days throughout the Netherlands in January and February. The students delve into innovative crop protection techniques and receive five points for the spraying license. There is a possibility to receive an 85% subsidy, also for agricultural entrepreneurs.
Can you tell us more about your company?
''I have a conventional arable farm in Zuid-Beijerland of 68 hectares. In 2015 I joined my father's partnership and last year I completely took over the company. We mainly grow potatoes, which we sell together with our neighbors under the name Potato Farm. We also grow wheat, sugar beets and this year, for the first time, red kidney beans. We also rent out part of the land for celeriac."
Are there any specific crop protection challenges you are currently facing?
''I find the changes in legislation and regulations difficult and do not make me very happy. Finding correct information and interpreting it is a challenge. This year we purchased a new Amazone spraying machine, which I can use again. So I am investing in that and I hope that I am now prepared for the future. I try to keep up by continuing to read and taking courses. That's how I completed the course Squirt Academy followed. I learned a lot of important, new information there. I take this knowledge home with me and I try to figure out how I can apply it in my own company."
How do you view crop protection in the future?
''I am in favor of site-specific spraying. If that becomes more affordable, I see potential in it. I thought it might be possible within twenty years, but developments are actually happening quite quickly. During the course of the Squirt Academy I noticed that these developments are closer than I thought. But if you look at the costs, I think it's still too early. However, I am already working on our new sprayer, because in principle it should be able to spray location-specifically. This also requires working with task cards. I'm not very good at that yet, but I'm collecting all the necessary information to be able to work with it in the future. I would really see location-specific spraying using task cards as a valuable addition for the future.”
What is the reason why you participated in the course? Squirt Academy?
''We were considering purchasing a new syringe. I wanted more information about that, because this syringe can do much more than I knew at the time. Then I saw the Spuit Academy course and it seemed interesting to me. I thought I could always learn something from it, but it turned out to be much more than that. I found the course very informative and fun."
What addition does the Squirt Academy had on your daily work?
''Previously we thought the caps on them were good enough. Now I pay more attention to which cap I should use for drift reduction, depending on the product I use. I also started looking more closely at the amount of water required with the new caps. Previously, if I used 150 liters, I sprayed with that amount as standard. But with the new nozzles I have to spray more than 300 liters. I picked that up during the course and I still apply that knowledge in my work.”
Would you like to participate in the Spray Academy course yourself, earn five license points and learn everything about innovative crop protection techniques? Then register now. An 85% subsidy is possible for the course. For more information click here.