Light Land Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 The Dutch are some of the worlds best farmers farming some of the if not the best soil in the world IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 The Dutch are some of the worlds best farmers farming some of the if not the best soil in the world IMO. And not forgetting it was a Dutch man who helped engineer the Fens in the UK which has been and still is the most productive arable region in this country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 I have had this discussion with friends several times recently, we always end up never resolving it and I keep forgetting to ask anyone on here but given the size of all the kit that seems to be going round in Holland and the cost of it all how do farmers make a decent living.........how many hectares do lots of these farms have and does anyone also know the sort of average size of farms in Holland overall?........ certainly must be something very different from a lot of the uk I`d suggest. We are all in the EU so commodity prices shouldn`t be wildly different, I know there will be currency issues but even still.......I`m confused anyone care to enlighten me, thanks I went to Holland on study tour in 91, the thing that struck me is on the whole Dutch farmers seem to invest in equipment but also they are more efficient in how they farm compared to the UK. The level of machinery on a dairy farm was higher than on some UK arable units, but then average milk yields per cow were higher than top yielding herds in the UK. I also think Dutch farmers specialise and excel at one particular area rather than trying to achieve at everything. I never saw one mixed farm while i was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Well said.The dutch farmers over here in NZ often have the best farms in the area. Shows how much the rest of the world fluffs about when it comes to farming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakescot Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 thanks for that guys , didnt know about the fens................yes well with land at an obvious premium we could learn a lot about productivity and good management from the Dutch.............everything is going to have to be spot on I would guess...............anyone know anything about Koepon dairies? we have one round here Coopon Carse.......Jan Vos was the manager for a while,he went back to Holland though........some of the subsequent managers have struggled to come to terms with the farm and the climate round here..... I`ve modified I should have added, re your specialisation comment Simon, I reckon up here we like to cover ourselves and not have all our eggs in one basket , the land doesnt always allow anything but livestock and would certainly not support every farm with a holstein dairy ....I have a steep part in every field, wet parts in most , some you cant drain economically because the rock is too near the surface however there are deep fissures and pockets which all hold back water.Yes i accept the laser guys could come in , blast the rock it is all possible but not economically so..such is the difference i`m assuming in marginal land farming.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 Not worth going to wall over it hey,I know of one farmer here that "made a dream arable unit" then went bust a few years later as he could'nt ever get on top of the repayments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakescot Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 yes Ol, seen similar here,well 20 miles away.......we actually looked at sending cattle away to winter with this guy......one look at the silage in his pit,a listen to the noisy cattle in the sheds , a quick look at slurry coming up through the slats soon persuaded us it wasnt for us........he arrived late in a 3145 I think it was....... brand new, he had been cutting hedges......he had a MF 4840,several other biggish MF`s . there was another rusty tractor vaguely green prob a steiger poking out of a shed .massive discs ,flexi coil folding harrows,huge cambridge rollers, a huge liquid fert tank , huge big self propelled chafer sprayer, massive new grain drier and a combine so big he had to have a police escort to get down the roads here,it was the biggest Dominator back then, can`t remember the number, I didn`t get to see it.everything had to be big They were trying to emulate the big grain farms......one of the brothers was in canada for a while.they used to say on of them had a TV and fridge in the tractor cab.....he actually slept in it too, I know that`sright cos the mechanic we used to work with did some of his work. they turned a steep but decent stock farm into an arable one , rented 3 big flat farms down by the sea, tried to grow beet,wheat, oilseed rape.they didnt last 5 years. incidentally an irishman bought one of the farms , the one we were at to see the masstock sheds...he had cattle but grew tatties.he too had a rough time and at least twice out of his first 4 years they went unharvested! think this tells us make the best of what you have eh rather than try to make it something it`s not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Things might look great in Holland but when you take a closer look I don't think they are at all. Farming over here is just as difficult as in other parts of the world, if not more. We've got some advantages such as (mainly) good quality soil that produces high yields but compared on a worldwide scale it's only a few acres. Every country and their farmers have their pro's and con's. If I could I would move to the UK tomorrow and start farming over there. Lot more space, nicer landscape, similar yields and more future into farming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford 8830 Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 martyn and i had a good look round this area on the monday after the lcn show, we went to dronten lelystad etc. as someone who works for a 3000 acre estate i found this really interesting. the small fields and large amounts of kit amazed us. The area is really open and well set out for large operations but there are small fields within big ones. We saw lots of tractors ploughing with 4 furrows and large tractors pulling trailers around the roads. The soil was first class. i see that from the other comments that you dutch guys love your kit, we farm our 3000 acres with 1 challenger 865c and a jd 6930. and a bateman 36. that is the total tractors for the whole unit. we are really looking forward to looking aroung more next year and will head this way on the friday as well as the monday!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakescot Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Things might look great in Holland but when you take a closer look I don't think they are at all. Farming over here is just as difficult as in other parts of the world, if not more. We've got some advantages such as (mainly) good quality soil that produces high yields but compared on a worldwide scale it's only a few acres. Every country and their farmers have their pro's and con's. If I could I would move to the UK tomorrow and start farming over there. Lot more space, nicer landscape, similar yields and more future into farming. yes I hear you but as the old old story goes , the grass is always greener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Richard: That must be ERF then which you visited? Not many people around with so many acres I think. But you shouldn't all look at the Flevo polder. Not the whole of Holland is like that! The Flevo is an exceptional area purely created for the purpose of farming back in the 50's and 60's. Every region of Holland (we have surprisingly quite a few) has its own charather, crops, farmers and equipment. Personally I find the Flevo and NOP polders quite boring. We always joke around saying their yields are twice as high (according to them) and their kit is as well. Jake: True it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 Here I am Ripping ground with a Magnum 7130 and DMI ripper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 Here I am Ripping with a Ford Versatile 9480 with DMI, this tractor has autosteer, sure makes life easy on the operator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 Here I am disking with the Magnum 7110 and IH disk The 7110 and 7130 park in the yard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 My friends fully restord IH 1066 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 15, 2010 Author Share Posted December 15, 2010 And finally feeding cattle, IH 1486 on the mixer wagon, IH 766 with loader, and a Bobcat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPR Models Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Very nice pictures and veeery nice machinery Erik,i understand why you are going to the stats every year now :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Big Blue looks a TREAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I see you had an excellent holiday working all day Erik . Better weather over there it seems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 16, 2010 Author Share Posted December 16, 2010 I see you had an excellent holiday working all day Erik . Better weather over there it seems? Much better weather Niels, they had a great fall with, a good crop, and very little drying cost. I was a bit dissapointed that the harvest was done before i got there, but as you can see i did get some tractor time in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Were in the US are the pictures from Erik?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Great pictures Erik. Looks you had a very good time there. How was to drive the new holland? Hope when my daughters are little older also go back there and make a cattle drive. Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Much better weather Niels, they had a great fall with, a good crop, and very little drying cost. I was a bit dissapointed that the harvest was done before i got there, but as you can see i did get some tractor time in What combine does your friend uses, nice Axial-Flow? it would suit his fleet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 17, 2010 Author Share Posted December 17, 2010 Were in the US are the pictures from Erik?? NW Iowa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ertlerik Posted December 17, 2010 Author Share Posted December 17, 2010 What combine does your friend uses, nice Axial-Flow? it would suit his fleet. 2588 and 1660 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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