Farming is an economic activity

Sometimes you need a drop to overflow the bucket. This year that last drop was there (it was 66 and now you understand what the D of D66 stands for). Apparently, politicians, Randstad and ministries ignore the fact that farming is an economic activity.

A farmer has to practice the cycle, nice cows in the meadow, on a small scale, not producing for the world, but only locally. A bit of nature maintenance and sometimes driving through the village before the show with the tractor, so that the emigrated city dwellers retain that nice rural feeling. Who pays for that remains unclear. But hey, that's just the image that city dwellers and politicians want. The fact that this subsequently has a major economic impact is simply brushed aside. 

The Netherlands is not a country for Ot en Sien agriculture, the Netherlands is an economic powerhouse in the field of agriculture. A sector that offers people a job, which ensures that good, healthy and often too cheap food is always available to everyone. Here, but also in the rest of the world.

No farmer from outside
A sector that people from all over the world come to the Netherlands for. To see how we do it here and to learn from it. This is sometimes forgotten and gets snowed under in the discussion about nature, the environment and animal welfare. The fact that a farmer is a real entrepreneur requires a greater focus. Don't approach him or her like a burp from around.

No, he or she is a CEO who understands production, investment, market development, financing, employership and is also technically savvy. And that's also where our third National Economic Agricultural Congress stands for: for the CEO on work shoes.

In the spring we put together a nice group of speakers and declared the theme 'Entrepreneurship in a different climate'. With today's knowledge that is a bull's eye, although we could not have imagined at the time that the (nitrogen) bomb exploded at the end of this summer. Nevertheless, the congress is a good benchmark for many agricultural CEOs to set their vision and mission and to think about what economic developments are coming their way. Because every threat also has an opportunity.

Only 1 can win
With the arrival of the Boerenbusiness Awards we add a nice shoot to the tree. The Impact Award goes to the person who has had the most impact in presenting and representing the agricultural sector. For the Agribusiness Award we searched for the product or service that could give the farmer an economic advantage or advantage. And there were surprisingly many, unfortunately only 1 can win.

Fortunately, this shows that more companies around the agricultural CEOs realize that agriculture is an economic activity.

Keith Maas

Kees Maas is director of the DCA Group. He has more than 25 years of experience in commodities trading, both on the stock exchanges and in the physical market. Maas is a specialist in price risk management and a much sought-after sparring partner for food companies for their sales and purchasing strategy.

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