'Telling the beautiful farmer's story is important'

Nico Rodenburg's arable farm has a special history. While the company was still one of the largest companies on Voorne-Putten 100 years ago, today the cards are shuffled differently. Rodenburg has other plans with his company.

The company of the Rodenburg family once covered about 100 hectares. However, due to the construction of a national road, the company lost 12 hectares of land and the grounds were divided between 2 farms. In order to maintain sufficient income, Nico's father decided to invest in chicory cultivation in the early 80s. At the end of the eighties, an expensive cell for the chicory rack was built, which was very modern for the time.

Chicory Debacle
A number of employees worked at the company during that period. However, the chicory market is a market of extremes. Just at the time when the Rodenburg family was investing in chicory, chicory production in France, among others, also grew rapidly. As a result, the price collapsed, so that chicory yielded little. In the end it was decided to stop using chicory.

At that time Nico Rodenburg was 11 years old. "So I didn't know yet whether I was going to take over the company. It was therefore a difficult decision for my father whether he would continue to invest in, for example, arable farming. At that time, the municipality wanted to offer development space for recreation in our polder. interest in part of our land."

Once again, part of the land was sold. The chicory storage was then rented out for hydrangeas. Gradually, the storage of products for other farmers and horticulturists grew into a new branch of the company. Also because a shed that was originally intended for broilers eventually transformed into a storage shed.

Entrepreneurial blood
In the end Nico, who had always been on the farm from an early age, decided that he wanted to continue with the farm. "I found out that there was entrepreneurial blood in me after I had previously opted for technical training. When it turned out that my older brother didn't want anything with the company, I was given the choice without obligation. Whether I wanted to keep the company in the family."

He finally entered into a partnership in 2004. He also worked as a draftsman for Rumptstad-Steketee, among others, and he continued to do that drawing for another 10 years as a freelancer. I recently stopped doing that and I still do some office work for other farmers, for example combined assignments. Since he didn't want to be a full-time farmer, this brings him the variety he wants. "I don't like sitting on the tractor for a whole week."

Investing in box storage
"We kept the potatoes in the barn attached to the farm until the takeover, but I wanted to modernize it. We couldn't adapt the barn, because it has a monument status. However, I wanted to keep it, because off-land supply of heavy soil is difficult, so I immediately decided to invest in box storage, because I believe this is the future for (table) potato cultivation."

He has always been very happy with that box storage. "I don't have to set up a storage line and can only load. Moreover, I noticed that I was not going to win purely on production and Nedato pays a fee for the crate storage. I decided to focus on quality as much as possible."

Rather not a cost price grower
Rodenburg already saw at the time that the contract prices for chips potatoes were not great. "You could only get a plus through kilos and length, and that is almost impossible on our heavy soil. We want to get the potatoes out on time. There were also no click contracts at the time, so you could never peak. I started calculating and soon found out that the then €110 per ton was not enough. It's not in me to be a cost price grower. That's why I think the choice for table potato cultivation was a good one."

In order to keep the company profitable after the takeover, it was necessary to generate income in another way. "But I actually don't have green fingers, so it didn't suit me to pick up a specific crop. I also quickly tire of something, so I preferred to expand. I never considered expanding in acreage."

That is why Rodenburg decided to talk to the municipality. "I realized that our farm offered opportunities due to its designated use as a monument and central location. Then I presented the municipality with the choice. I said I could have the barn collapsed, because an outdated, empty barn is of no use to me anyway. The municipality thought it was a shame. Their proposal was that I should make a plan so that the shed could support itself in terms of finances."

No more farmers in every family
"Because I think education is fun and important, I saw opportunities for the barn in it. I notice that there is a need to tell the story of Dutch arable farming. Everyone used to have a farmer in the family, but that is already It's not nearly the same anymore. Yet people do want to know what happens to their food. If they don't see it in real life, they will give it their own interpretation."

"All the lights went green at the municipality, because I wanted to do something with education and gave the monumental barn a follow-up function. Anyway, education alone doesn't make you much better financially. Then I decided that the barn should also be a meeting location in addition to being an educational destination. That way I can tell the beautiful story and earn some money from it."

Earn with education
Rodenburg also sees a revenue model in the field of education. "For example, I'm thinking of letting visitors harvest their potatoes themselves and maybe setting up a tasting in collaboration with local businesses. After all, visitors pay a lot better than regular sales."

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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