Post-tour ‘Up North’ programme, 15-18 July 2018

Agriculture in Transition

PLEASE NOTE: room for only 25 participants!

Sunday July 15 – Wednesday July 18
Implementation: cross-sectoral

In short:

  • Start in Noordwijkerhout (IFAJ main congress): July 15, 10.00 hrs
  • Drop off at Schiphol Airport: July 18, 17.00 hrs

This tour brings us to the beautiful province of Fryslân, ‘Up North’ in the Netherlands. We will be staying in the middle of the countryside, there where cows are our neighbours.

At the start of this post-tour, you’ll already be aware of the ambition and innovation in Dutch farming. In order to stay in business, farmers in our densely populated, small country are constantly searching for ways to do things better, smarter or just different.

You’ll meet several entrepreneurs who found ways, or who are in the middle of finding new ways, to prepare themselves for the future. And they are willing to talk about their successes and struggles, and show you their passion for their farms.

Beside the farm visits we’ll show you the area, make sure you don’t have to miss the World Soccer Finals, and get you in touch with some local habits… Days full of fun guaranteed!

Programme

Some examples of our visits

  • A short stop on the famous Afsluitdijk.
  • An evening boat tour, to visit a dairy farmer who just made a switch from conventional to organic.
  • A visit to the ‘Potato Valley’, where we are going to see some state-of-the-art potato breeding.
  • A visit to a crop farmer who closely cooperates with another crop farmer, a dairy farmer and a sheep farmer under an association called Ecolana.
  • A visit to the Dairy Valley / Dairy Campus – with presentations of innovations in grass management.
  • A visit to a breeding, training and exporting company of Frisian horses.
  • A visit to a goat farmer who was also an agriculture journalist.
  • A visit to two pig farmers with a specific recipe for the feed and with that for the taste of the meat.
  • A visit to organic arable farmer Thijs Geerse (on our way back to Amsterdam). He shows the world what organic farming in the Netherlands is like.

A more detailed program will be presented well in advance to all participants.

Fryslân is relatively small so we won’t have to drive very far. This saves us time and helps us to present you many great businesses and farmers. Each day there will be great stories to write and bring home to publish!

Our stay
Leisure time and a short but good night sleep are important parts of any tour. We are very proud to present the location where we’ll stay: Pollepleats.