Organic with a healthy business model

Arable farming company Dun from Groningen has been elected (again) in 2025 demonstration farm for sustainable agricultureThis means that they actively share knowledge and experience in meetings and demos on the farm. They regularly receive farmers, students, politicians, scientists, policy makers and advisors.

Pioneers
Jaap has converted part of his company to strip cultivation. This is pioneering, because there are few examples to be found in Groningen and that is why Jaap started experimenting himself. "We experience things that no one could have told us. That forces us to come up with solutions ourselves, such as finding a natural enemy for the bean fly that destroyed 60% of our yield last year. Now we know that these natural enemies feel at home in the buckwheat and we grow them next to it. In this way we look for crop pairs that suit each other and us." Because Jaap is on drift-sensitive soil, he is also experimenting with different crop heights. This brings back the natural coulisse landscape and has already limited the drift damage considerably.

Experiment and inspire
As a demonstration company, Jaap wants to show that you can also go off the beaten track. It is important to experiment yourself and see what works and what doesn't on your own company. "We can also learn a lot from each other, that's how you get inspired. Ultimately, the end goal is a healthy revenue model, it is important that you keep looking at that." For example, Jaap does not dare to convert his entire company to strip cultivation. "We are still experimenting and are taking a lot of risks. At the moment, the conventional part is the buffer for the organic part."

Dun arable farming company
Jaap Dun runs the company together with his wife Christien arable farm Dun which he took over from his parents in 2015. Since the takeover, Jaap has been looking for stability in his income, eventually in 2018 he converted half of his land to organic, part of which is also grown in strips. On the rest of his land (the other half) Jaap has conventional cultivation, this is now being worked by a colleague.

_{Sources:
Demonstration company Dun - Green Knowledge Network}

More information:
Strip cropping file
Professional information for arable farmers