Farmer Wilco de Zeeuw has a different approach to work on his fields. On his site in Slabroek you don’t see straight fields with only one crop. You also do not see large bare meadows. Wilco practices agroforestry, which is actually ‘old-fashioned’ farming by keeping trees, crops and animals together and allowing them to live. “This really is the future.”
Wilco walks across one of his fields. “This is a nashi pear, this is a cooking pear and a pepper tree. Here is a peach and a paw paw tree, there is another black currant.” The trees are still small. The first blossom is already there. “That’s what you get with perennial crops. It takes a while before you can harvest it,” says Wilco.
It sounds like a somewhat vague term; agroforestry. “It is a combination of tree cultivation and food production,” explains Wilco. “You produce food with perennial crops. So with trees and shrubs.” Annual crops are, for example, maize or grain.
“And between those trees, yes, that depends”, Wilco continues. “In this field there are five meters between the trees. Here, for example, my chickens walk in a special chicken wagon. In other places the trees are ten or twenty-five meters apart. I then have pasture or arable farming there.”
Agroforestry mainly provides more biodiversity and it is much better for the soil. Wilco’s farm is located in the hamlet of Slabroek in the middle of the Maashorst near Uden. It is one of the driest places in Brabant.
“Because of the drought, we started with trees.”
“That drought is one of the reasons we started with trees,” says Wilco. “Especially to break the wind. Trees provide shelter from the wind. Everything grows better in the lee. And you have less evaporation. In addition, trees can extract the moisture much deeper from the ground.”
For example, Brabant has many dry areas. “I think we can take a very good step in this with agroforestry,” says Wilco. Trees provide a much better soil that can retain moisture much better.”
Brabant is at the forefront of this way of farming. The Agroforestry Network Brabant (ANB) was founded six years ago. In the meantime, 50 business plans have already been implemented and many more are in the pipeline. Chairman of the Brabant network is Piet Rombouts. “Here in Brabant, we already realized years ago that the need for sustainability was great.”
“It takes years before you can reap the benefits.”
It is clear that this way of farming is good for the soil. But a revenue model is complicated at first, says Rombouts. “Trees are expensive and it takes years before you can literally reap the fruits of them. That is why we, the province, help with the investment. Then it is much easier for farmers to manage. Because with that start-up aid, the revenue model is certainly there.”
All those trees in fields and meadows don’t make farming any easier, says Wilco. “It takes more human labor,” says Wilco. “But on the other hand, agroforestry will yield more than ordinary agriculture.”
And so Wilco is no longer dependent on a few crops. “I have about seventy varieties. So if the harvest of one of them is a bit less, it won’t have such a big impact.” In any case, his entire revenue model is different. He sells directly to consumers as much as possible. “Yogurt, butter, cheese and eggs. And muesli and oatmeal from the food forest,’ says Wilco. “There will be many more products when the trees are fully grown.”
He tells other farmers that they should start small. “You don’t have to set up an entire food forest in one go. For example, start with one row of trees in your field or pasture.”
The commitment of the province has not gone unnoticed in The Hague. “The government really sees us as an example,” says Rombouts. He therefore hopes for some extra financial resources. “Because farmers see the need. This is really the future.”
