Organic cover turns bulb farmer John into a traitor in the eyes of his colleagues

John Huiberts also grew flower bulbs in the usual way for many years. In addition, it was common for chemical pesticides to be used to kill weeds and fungi. “That’s how we learned it at school,” says John. “As neat as possible, no weeds and with tight paths. Then you performed well, you could borrow more money and then the accountant was proud of you.”

But John and his wife grew increasingly remorseful about this system that imprisoned all farmers. About ten years ago they decided to change course and switch to organic cultivation. So growing flower bulbs without using chemical pesticides. It meant the start of a new chapter in their lives, but above all a lot of uncertainty.

Before the soil was clean enough for the designation ‘organic’, it was five years later and growing without pesticides meant a lot of extra work and at the same time uncertainty about income. John did not have to count on help from fellow bulb farmers because from one day to the next he was no longer welcome at the usual card evenings with fellow farmers. They saw him as a renegade and traitor to the closed bulb culture.

Through trial and error, John had to discover the best way to grow organic flower bulbs. For example, by combining cultivation with other crops, making the bulbs less attractive to fungi. He also adjusted the range and now offers varieties that are less vulnerable.

But with his technical insight, he continuously devises solutions to grow bulbs in a responsible manner. For example, he is now conducting tests with a robotised hoeing machine that can completely independently remove weeds from his 70 hectares of land. He hopes to keep personnel costs under control with self-invented ‘hoe hands’.

Unlike his former friends, John is eager to help future organic farmers grow organic crops. Because he sees no other solution for the agricultural sector in the future. “If everyone takes responsibility for the environment and the climate, then farmers can only work organically.”

The chance that John’s children will continue his life’s work is small. “My children are good mathematicians and have already said, don’t count on us”. That is why he hopes that someone will knock on the door who wants to continue it, perhaps someone from outside the traditional sector who believes in an organic future. “Then there is a good chance that I will be able to retire as a happy man one day.”