The discussion about the agricultural sector has hardened and the future seems uncertain. That has to change, says dairy farmer Amber Laan (26). In her own way she tries to give others an insight into the life of a farmer and hopes to build a bridge between farmers and citizens. “We have to work it out together in the end.”
At 23, Amber became part owner of the family business she grew up in. That was not so obvious. “In fact, when I went to college I thought ‘I really don’t want to be a farmer, because it’s really a lot of work and it’s always work’.”
But during her education in Wageningen, she discovered that she could make a big impact. “In your own way and with direct results. So I got in anyway,” Amber says in the NH Radio podcast.
Amber Laan tries to build bridges between farmers, politicians and citizens. She invites them to come and have a look at her company to show how she works and the dilemmas she struggles with. “I also like to enter into discussion with people who think differently,” she says.
Amber hopes to learn a lot from this herself. “Of course I have an agricultural company, but I am also part of the region, the environment and also of society. So we have to come to a conclusion together.”
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The discussion about the future of the agricultural sector has hardened. That’s something that Amber also notices. On social media she shows how her company works and what the daily business of the dairy farmer is. “I often get nice reactions to that, but also occasionally very negative reactions,” she says. “Very often anonymously, so I can’t really have a discussion with them. Fortunately, that is only a very small group.”
The 26-year-old farmer would like to make the company more sustainable, but is running into problems. The agricultural agreement has not been implemented and the cabinet has recently fallen, leaving it with little certainty about the future. She would like to build a new stable, but is putting that off for a while. “I can only spend such large sums once.” She hopes that it will soon become clear in broad terms what requirements livestock farming must meet in the long term.
Amber is not sure what the future will look like for dairy farming. “I don’t know how the sentiment around agriculture is changing, but I do think that dairy consumption also makes sense for the next generation. I do think that the sector will look different and so will my company.”
Are you curious about the whole conversation? Listen to the podcast in full below.