Boer moves to Denmark: ‘Just as big, but with 12 million fewer people who whine and moan’

“That was during the corona time. My father, with whom I have always worked on the farm, became seriously ill and had to go to hospital. We did not want other people on the farm because of the risk of infection, but someone from the cooperative was suddenly unannounced at the dam for an inspection, which made me so angry,” says Kamps.

All these experiences together made Kamps and the rest of the family decide to move. He hopes to be able to farm better and more easily in Denmark. He also hopes to get more appreciation.

“I don’t want to say that everything is different in Denmark, but I always say: the country is just as big, but there are 12 million fewer people who can whine and moan than here,” says Kamps.

Kamps takes over an organic farm in Denmark with three times as much land as he has in Bunne. He also takes over two employees. “I will soon have a little more cows there, but I also have a lot more land on which I can grow the concentrates myself. That is never possible in the Netherlands. Actually, it is too full here.”

Kamps is not allowed to take cows to Denmark, but he will still take a hundred embryos with him that will be transferred to the cows there. “That has mainly to do with my father, who eventually passed away last October. He started breeding and we want to continue that a bit.”

The rest of the family members fully support emigration. Daughter Janis hopes that her parents will have to work a little less hard and have a little more time for her. Son Robert also wants to become a farmer in the future and would like to move for that.

“I would like to take over and you can grow even bigger there,” says Robert. “I like working on the land and taking care of the livestock.”

Carmen, Arjan’s wife, has a job as an administrative assistant, but sometimes also works on the farm. She is also fully behind the move to Denmark.

“The biggest issue we struggle with is leaving our friends and family behind. And the day the cattle left here, because that’s something you built up. Those are actually the two hardest moments,” says Carmen.

For years, farmers have moved to Denmark, partly because of the space that is available. The same goes for Kamps. Although he knows that the rules for farming in Denmark are also becoming stricter.

“By 2030, every cow must have so many square meters in the barn, but that was announced ten years ago. We are saddled with rules here every time that should have been this way already. That doesn’t work. We never know where we are. ready,” says Kamps.

“I don’t want to say it’s much better there, but I think if you have a little more left at the end of the year, the job satisfaction is also there. We don’t have to get rich there, as long as we have time I always say: health and happiness cannot be bought, but a little bit of happiness and health is more important than the rest,” says Kamps.