Boerenbusiness is 10 years old this year. In the context of this anniversary we publish on Boerenbusiness various interviews with loyal Boerenbusinesssubscribers. What developments, opportunities and threats do they see? This time it is M. Verhage's turn, an arable farmer in Oostburg in Zeeland.
1. Who are you and what kind of business do you have?
"M. Verhage owner of arable farm Verhage, on average construction plan for a Dutch arable farm of 143 hectares with wheat, barley, grass seed, fiber flax, sugar beet, potatoes and some special seed crops. The company is located in Oostburg (Zeeland)."
2. What motivated you to take out a subscription 10 years ago? Has this affected your business?
"The subscription was taken out by my father at the time and I took over this membership when I took over the farm 4 years ago. He did that at the time, in particular to keep abreast of the different market developments. Now that you are better informed If you are aware of what the market is doing, you do take this into account in the sales decisions of different products."
3. Which page of Boerenbusiness do you always open first?
"It always opens on the homepage, but then often to the futures market page for the potatoes, or the special potato or grain messages."
4. What development (in the last 10 years) are you most proud of in your company?
"That I was able to take over the arable farm from my parents and let the company continue to grow."
5. What hinders you most in your current business and why?"
"However, the increasingly stricter requirements and stricter rules that we have to comply with more and more. And all this entails additional costs, which we unfortunately do not see in the payment of the products."
6. Where do you see the most opportunities for your company and why?
"I will nevertheless try to maintain a broad cultivation plan within my company, to maintain risk spreading. So there is not really a cultivation where I see plenty of opportunities. I myself do see opportunities to improve the application of crop protection products and fertilizers even further. optimizing by GPS techniques."
7. Are you an 'online' entrepreneur or do you still attach great value to information on paper?
"I still find a paper version easier to read than online, and you put the paper aside for a while, if you need it again you just grab it, online you often have to look for where it was. But the big advantage of online, you can always access the right data anywhere, which is also becoming increasingly important because sometimes you have to make a decision in a short time while you are not near the office where the paper version is. I still prefer online business."
8. Who in agriculture compliments you?
"At the moment I would like to give a compliment to our ZLTO foreman, Joris Beacke. He has already handled many difficult cases, especially in his previous position in maintaining various pesticides. This has not all worked out for him either, but he is pulling very hard to still keep a few means."
9. Where will your company be in 10 years and will you still be a subscriber?
"Normally, I will still be a member. I will certainly still be a farmer. And if the sales of the products still take place in the same way, I will still get my necessary information from your site."
10. If I'm editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness wash then...
"I would like to continue on this foot, there is sufficient and clear information provided on your site and it is easily accessible."
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