During the TALLHEDA summer school the participants visited a Flemish farmer, Stijn Avermaete, who told us his story. If you’re interested, you can read it here:
In the early 1950s, Remi Avermaete and Simonne Goossens moved from (Evergem) Ghent to Tienen. They ran a farm and a household of seven children. More than 70 years later, we find the second, third and fourth generations back on the land (while a fifth generation is crawling around). They are now three separate farms, within walking distance of each other. By Belgian standards, they are large farms, each with more than 400 hectares of land under cultivation. They face the same challenges, experience similar bottlenecks, but there are also interesting differences in the strategies of the three farms.
Stijn Avermaete combines arable farming with fruit growing. He has invested heavily in precision farming. He uses GPS technology and advanced software to monitor his land. This allows him to reduce inputs while maintaining high yields. He does not apply tillage. He shows us several printouts of data on soil health and explains the administrative burden placed on farmers. If you want to remain competitive in the industry, you have to invest in innovation and technology.
For his apple orchard, Stijn recently made the switch from conventional to organic. Most of the work in the orchard was mechanised, from pruning to harvesting. His harvest is sold for processing. Stijn has also invested in a vineyard and has processing facilities on his farm.
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