Company report Michael van Andel
'When it came to money, I was already organic'
Arable farmer Michiel van Andel would have been an organic arable farmer for a long time if he did not refuse on principle. “I want to determine for myself what is sustainable and not be pushed into a certain corner. The pigeonholing of 'organic is good and common is wrong' is far too short-sighted”, he says.
Van Andel is a well-known Twitter farmer who champions common arable farming practices, such as the application of chemistry. By means of scientific studies and a rational discussion, he tries to disprove negative reports about, among other things, glyphosate and fertilizers. “I can't stand that all kinds of untruths are being said about conventional arable farming and agriculture in general. I experience that as injustice and I rebel against it.”
Benefit from safe resources
These topics are often discussed during the visit to his company. Van Andel starts off by saying that he himself also benefits from safe farming. “It is sometimes forgotten that we as farmers also benefit from safe products that have the lowest possible impact on people and the environment. I also have 4 small children of my own and that is the best thing for me.”
In his close circle, Van Andel has lost people to cancer. He therefore does not talk unfeeling about the accusation that glyphosate causes cancer. “But I see a lot of fake news and even fake science being spread about glyphosate. It is a dangerous trend when sentiment and citizens decide what is dangerous or not. For example, a home remedy such as vinegar is more dangerous than glyphosate.”
Food has become a religion
“It is all presented far too indiscriminately. Fertilizers and pesticides are bad and organic is good. In reality it is much more complex. A belief has arisen around food. Even food prophets, in the form of various food gurus, are not lacking. The danger is that all kinds of dogmas are imposed on society based on this belief.”
Van Andel does not want to become a conspiracy theorist, but he does see that an enormous marketing campaign is being conducted in which rational considerations are disregarded. “For example, there are plenty of studies that show that if fertilizers disappear, the world's food supply is at stake. Of course I understand that the farmer is served by organic farming, because lower yields mean higher prices. It is certainly not in the public interest.”
| Company Details |
| Michiel van Andel has an arable farm of approximately 50 hectares. He then grows 1-to-6 chicory, onions, beets and wheat. He trades part of his land. In addition to arable farming, he is also active in the futures markets. He is also an active advocate of sustainable farming practices. According to Van Andel, this also partly includes fertilizer and (synthetic) crop protection products. |
“I am good at maths and would have been farming organically for a long time if I hadn't been so opposed to pigeonholing on principle. I lose €50.000 to €100.000 a year because I don't want to be organic. It's not that I have anything against organic, but I do want to be able to decide for myself what is sustainable."
Stopped with potatoes
Van Andel also calculates well in other areas what he does and therefore makes special choices. For example, he stopped growing potatoes. “When I started calculating, it turned out that I had better opt for the combination of onions and chicory. Potato cultivation is relatively expensive due to the seed potatoes and mechanization, while I am good at chicory cultivation. In addition, I still earn my money with potatoes, but on the futures market. Of course potatoes are a nice crop to grow, but after a while I got rid of that emotion.”
In addition to the potato futures market, Van Andel is also active in the futures markets of other commodities, earning an income in addition to his arable farming business. “It started with a futures market course from DCA and after a few years trading the potato futures market I expanded that further.”
Onion harvest 2020 already sold
Trading on the futures markets resulted in Van Andel becoming much more rational. “I now make much less decisions based on emotion. For example, I have already sold all my onions from harvest 2020, while I have not yet sold part of harvest 2019. It is a matter of statistics: the onion area has been growing for years in a row. Two dry summers in a row saved us, but it has never happened before that there are 3 dry summers in a row. Colleagues think I'm crazy and say I have to keep at least a part free to spread the risk. But I do spread those risks by being active in the futures markets.”
The entrepreneur uses a 1-on-6 construction plan. “In total I have 30 hectares of chicory, partly on swapped land. In addition, I have 14 hectares of onions, 8 hectares of wheat and 8 hectares of beets. I also rent a part for tulips, although I also do work for that myself. I exchange part of my land for seed potatoes, I have no further work to do on that. There is a lot of work involved in chicory: there is a lot of hoeing which I think is wonderful work, much to the surprise of my organic colleagues”, laughs Van Andel.
At 35 years old, the arable farmer is a relatively young entrepreneur. At the age of 27 he became his own boss on the arable farm. “My father gave me free rein at a young age. He has always worked very hard on the 100 hectares we once had, but the opportunity arose to sell some of the land, which has reduced the acreage. This was not long before the takeover. It was then decided not to buy back any land. Also with a view to the other children, and the upcoming company takeover.”
Local production
Then Van Andel returns to social themes. “The whole idea of producing locally is of course a threat to arable farming and not based on rationality. Selling where you produce is by no means the best. If you produce 80 tons of onions here compared to 30 tons in Africa, that is a lot more efficient and the CO2 of the transport is negligible.”
“And it is of course much more sustainable to achieve maximum yield on our good quality soils than to be satisfied with 70% of the yield. It is not sustainable to sow, fertilize, irrigate, care for a crop, in short to give all that input, and then allow an important part to be lost again by insects or weeds. We are talking about food waste in the chain, but food waste on land is almost praised.”
Melina, Van Andel's wife, sometimes jokingly says that he is a moral knight. During the conversation, it can be noted that the attacks on conventional agriculture do not leave Van Andel cold. “A few years ago I was dealing with symptoms of burnout and I think that is partly due to my outrage at the misinformation about agriculture and the environment.”
Incorrect information
Besides that Van Andel climbs into the pen as a defence, he also filed a lawsuit against Bionext for providing incorrect information. “It's better to call their story about True Cost Accounting Fake Cost Accounting. There is a lot of shopping in which parameters they do and do not include. For example, the fact that the yields of conventional are higher is not taken into account.”
“Another example of the spreading of incorrect information is that figures are being used that show that tens of thousands of people die every year from pesticide use. These are figures based on a study from the 70s/80s. Moreover, at least 70% of these deaths are due to suicide through the use of crop protection products. Yes, I am concerned about this kind of information usage. It is important that policy is made based on correct information,” concludes Van Andel.
Anne-Jan Doorn
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