Background Agrifirm Youth Day
Van der Weijden tips farmer: 'Don't play it safe'
An annual phenomenon in January is the Agrifirm Youth Day. The theme of 2020: #trotsopdeboer. With speakers such as Olympic champion open water swimming Maarten van der Weijden, the feed and crop protection supplier from Apeldoorn tried to send the young farmers home today (January 8) with perspective.
In addition to Van der Weijden, Arjan van Houten, dairy farmer and also chairman of the Agrifirm Youth Council, and Dick Hordijk, CEO of the cooperative, took the stage. The day was put together by Jan Arie Koorevaar, dairy farmer and marketing manager. A nice club together, each with a good and compelling story. The turnout was also great this year. Some 650 young farmers had come for the day to listen to the speakers and network.
Different roles
First speaker Arjan van Houten talks about his experiences as a dairy farmer. "Tell society what farm life really is like", he urged the audience. "At the bank I am an agricultural entrepreneur, at the consumer I am a farmer", he explains the different roles that a farmer has. His message for the young farmers: "Distinguish yourself in the market."
CEO Hordijk's story is also about image formation. "All the negative images and statements that are thrown on social media come from people who do not agree with the agricultural sector." According to Hordijk, there is still too little opposition. He thinks that should be more. "Tell society what it really is. Let's be proud of our farming sector."
Think out of perspective
And then the floor was given to Maarten van der Weijden. His reason for speaking was the dilemmas he faced as a swimmer. Many (young) farmers also run into similar dilemmas. According to Van der Weijden, you can overcome dilemmas by thinking in perspective.
He talked about his illness, winning that gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing and what he went through last summer and the summer of 2018 during his Eleven Cities Swimming Tour. "I started living every day as if it were my last," he said of the period when he battled cancer. "But I can tell you, if you live every day like it's your last, you'll soon find out that every day is the same."
According to him, it is better to keep thinking from a perspective. Those perspectives take you somewhere. Van der Weijden's tip: "Don't be afraid of changes and don't play it safe, because changes are never safe." According to Van der Weijden, farmers would do well to stay close to themselves and to be proud of their profession.
'Dumb bad luck'
According to Van der Weijden, his failed Eleven Cities Swimming Tour in 2018 and the successful attempt in 2019 have similarities with the challenges farmers face. "If you want to go somewhere and achieving the goal is a tough one, sometimes you get to a point where you don't know how to proceed. Try to keep thinking from a perspective." Finally, he made it clear that it is okay if a goal is not achieved. "Sometimes the reason is outside of you and it's just plain bad luck."
Jorine Cosse
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
