Company report Family Haarman
'No robot for us, we like to be in the milking parlor'
The dairy farm of the Haarman family is located in Heeten, Overijssel. André and Hedwig are the third generation farmers in a row. Together with their 3 children they are happy to complete the daily work. At this family business, the cow and social connection are of paramount importance.
The family has a beautiful home in the Salland landscape on the edge of a forest. "We are really a family business", Hedwig (52) explains. "My ancestors have been farming at this location for years. Together with my husband André (53), who also comes from farming, we took over this company in the mid-90s."
| Company details |
| Family Haarman Over the years, the dairy herd has steadily scaled up to about 160 cows and associated young stock. The family owns 56 hectares of grassland and some land is leased. |
Next generation
Meanwhile, the next generation is just around the corner. The children Laura (24), Roxan (21) and Ramon (19) are intensively involved in the company. After graduating in Agricultural Entrepreneurship at the Aeres Hogeschool in Dronten, Roxan started working from home, but is still looking for a job outside the home. Laura works at the Animal Health Service in Deventer and Ramon is still following an agricultural course. All 3 consider taking over the parental dairy farm.
Although the future seems secure, the family is very concerned about the future of the entire agricultural sector. "That is why we traveled twice to The Hague during the farmers' protests in October to make our voices heard." The wooden signs with slogans such as "The Netherlands use your common sense" are still against the stable a few weeks after the protests.
Fun in the milking parlor
Roxan, who joined the conversation, continues: "We are real cow people. The tractor work is less convenient for us and we therefore outsource it as much as possible at the moment." Despite the fact that the family embraces automation, they consciously do not work with milking robots. "We want to see all the cows every day and we also like to be in the milking parlor", Roxan says enthusiastically. In 2018, a SAC 2x16 side-by-side milking parlor and animal identification was chosen. The cow shed was renovated in 2015, after a new calf shed was built in 2014. "We aim for a long lifespan per cow. Recently we had 2 cows that had passed the 100.000 kilo milk limit, we are proud of that."
Like many other dairy farmers, the family has been affected by the phosphate reduction plan and the introduction of the rights system. "We have been cut generically and have bought additional phosphate rights, but we were not a bottleneck." At the moment as few young stock as possible are kept in order to be able to produce as many liters of milk as possible with the available phosphate space. The meadow milk (annual supply of approximately 1,5 million kilos) has been supplied to A-ware for a number of years.
Black Angus bull
The family's dairy farm doesn't feel 'standard'. In the middle of the cowshed, for example, the jet-black Black Angus bull Ben stands in a separate box where he keeps an eye on the herd like a sort of chief. "We bought this bull last year to have our heifers and cows covered naturally, when they do not become pregnant with artificial insemination. We do not just say goodbye to our young stock when it does not want to. We only do that when we are sure that we have done everything we can. That is why we like the animal identification system so much. It gives us a grip on our herd and allows us to take early action if necessary," says Roxan. There is also a skybox where groups can be received.
Salland Farms and Eats Consciously
As true Sallanders, the family has also been affiliated with the farmer's citizen initiative 'Salland Boert en Eet Bewust' for a number of years now. The aim of this is to bring food producers and consumers closer together. Hedwig: "Here in Salland you also notice that fewer and fewer people are familiar with farm life. That is why we like to open our company for farm expeditions, especially in the summer months. Then groups of people come here for a tour and to work with at all kinds of activities. From feeding to taking care of the calves. We like to enter into a dialogue with the visitors."
This is done together with 71 other farmers from Salland, where many sectors are represented. In addition to Salland, 7 other regions are active under the flag of the national Boert Bewust foundation. In addition, there are 3 regions under construction. Every farmer who participates in one of the regions is scored on themes such as animal welfare, energy and the environment, is given a company sign and comes to the website of that region. All participants actively seek to connect with society in a way that suits them, such as hosting school classes, events in the city or via social media. "That provides a lot of understanding and in that way we try to do our part to tell the honest story of agriculture. We are proud of our company and our region and like to be in contact with the environment," says Hedwig.
Future
Time will tell what the future looks like. "In terms of dairy herd, we no longer need to grow. We can manage the current size well and that is important to us. We are still considering purchasing land, because this is becoming increasingly important." For the rest, the family wants to continue to do their thing and that is to produce milk in a sustainable way, so that many generations can continue to farm in this place. "That is why we hope that Dutch politics will not make farming life impossible", Roxan concludes.
Wouter Job
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