Snippe Agriculture

Three brothers, one shared principle: circular agriculture. In 2001, the three Snippe brothers converted their conventional dairy farm into an organic farm. They also added organic arable farming and horticulture. With Wouter's arable farm, Gerjan's horticulture company and Johan's dairy farm they collectively created Snippe Akkerbouw, working together by rotating the crops on their land. In conventional cultivation, the crops change every four years. Snippe Akkerbouw is moving towards an eight-year rotation. With this wider rotation, the soil remains healthy, and good crops grow in healthy soil. The brothers remain connected through the cyclical nature of their land. Gerjan makes the residual waste from his cabbages (leaf waste) and beet productive by feeding it to Johan's cows. It is rich in vitamins and good for fertility. All three brothers are convinced that you should get animal feed from your own land as much as possible, instead of using (mainly) imported soya.