Kees Trouw is the fourth generation of the agricultural company that was founded in 1880. His two sons are the fifth generation and are ready to continue the company. The company with 150 hectares of land focuses on growing various crops: potatoes, beets, onions, grain and corn.
Kees has everything under his own management, including most of the mechanization and work. Only the harvesting of the potatoes he does together with a contractor. His strategy is clear: "In a short time you have to be able to make big moves." But cooperation with others can sometimes be difficult. "It's give and take," says Kees.
Kees Trouw's arable farm is located in Hellevoetsluis (South Holland). Trouw grows the crops consumption potatoes, sugar beets, seed onions, corn and wheat. The crops are grown on sea clay of 20% to 55% siltable. The company has a total size of 150 hectares.
Cultivation plan
Kees grows 53 hectares of Agrias and Innovators and 15 hectares of onions. He grows potatoes partly on a contract basis and partly freely. He usually stores the Innovators until April and the Agrias are put away in May or June. Kees has experimented with different varieties over the years, but now focuses mainly on potatoes in the higher segment. "You can't just choose everything; you have to look at what works," he says.
He grows the onions completely freely. Kees has noticed that the potato market has an erratic character. He is critical of the pricing of the potato market, where everything depends on the Fontane price from Belgium. "That is a shame, because now you see that world trade is stagnating and prices are falling considerably." He finds it frustrating, especially when you consider that the costs for planting seed potatoes, around €3.000 per hectare, are not earned back when the price per kilo is only 15 to 16 cents. "That is simply not possible. It is sailing close to the wind." For him, this means making good agreements and delivering high quality.
The challenges in the country and in the market
The arable farmer sees agriculture as a complex chess game, in which he must constantly switch and think ahead. "It's not just planting potatoes and tilling the rows. No, you always have to think ahead. That's what makes it so much fun, that challenge." It's a process that demands a lot of his knowledge and skills, and that makes farming valuable to him, he says.
An important experience Kees gained was his time in the United States. He lived and worked in Texas for a year, where he drove the contractor with multiple combines from Texas to the Canadian border. This trip and the work he did there have considerably broadened his view of farming life. "You can walk around here for forty years, but you have to go out and see a lot of the world first. Look beyond your own farm."
The unreliability of the government and the unpredictability of the markets make it increasingly difficult to keep the company financially healthy, Kees believes. "The discussion around it does suck a lot of energy, you wonder if it's still fun." He emphasizes that there is a lack of understanding from the people who decide about their work. "They get their money transferred every month and decide what I have to do, while I bear the financing and I have to be happy if I only get the last cents a year and a half later."
Despite the challenges, Kees remains passionate about the profession. "The best thing is when you put a seed in the ground and see a plant grow; the size of a pinhead and then a beet of a kilo. That is why I remain a farmer."
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