Handyman Peter Timmermans (63, middle) was photographed in the spring of 1965 together with brother Laurens (65, electrical engineer) and cousin Jos (left, 65, pensioner) next to the farm at Sint Sebastiaanskapelstraat 14 in Laar.
“My parents owned a farm at the time. Twenty-five pigs, twelve cows and about ten hectares of land for grain and beets. There was still work with horse and carriage. Laurens and I helped every day. That also applied to Jos, who lived a little further away. We didn’t go on vacation. We only left the yard for school and church, as altar boys. Still, we didn’t miss anything. Our grandfather had farmed well and was able to help four sons with a farm. One son, Jos’s father, wanted to go to grammar school, but that was not possible. Farmer or priest was the choice. Agricultural changes already started after the war. The population grew, there was a need for food. Exports also became more important. Mechanization, pesticides, the milking machine, the use of all kinds of medicines. We ended up in a trend of scaling up, of which we now say: was that really necessary? In the 1970s, the question arose whether we wanted to become farmers. Jos was a good student, went to Wageningen, the Agricultural College. He became a pig breeder. Laurens and I mainly saw the concerns of our parents. Our father was a farmer in heart and soul, but he could barely make ends meet. We opted for a technical education. I ended up at Philips. Jos was forced to grow again and again by the banks. In 2013, with new legislation again, he decided to stop. As Jos says: a pig is no longer a pig, but only a means of production. I am now a handyman; and beekeeper. Josh helps me. Like our grandfather, he always kept bees. The best thing is the swarming. But yes, then you have lost half of your people. So we try to avoid that.”