What will our dairy farm of the future look like?

Courage • IJssellandschap • farmers Christian & Sanne

What will our dairy farm of the future look like?

In today's fast-paced world, fewer and fewer people know the origin of their food. Food travels an average of 30.000 kilometers before it ends up on our plates. And that while the Netherlands largely consists of agricultural lands. Over the years, farmers have started to produce on a larger scale, with cost efficiency becoming increasingly important. We are now seeing a decline in biodiversity, the impoverishment of agricultural land, but also an increasing need for recreation in nature. The Dutch production machine will thus be faced with a major, complex transition.

Photo by ’Natuur voor Elkaar’

Team
Beatrijs Voorneman
Arjen Oenema

Publications
Booklet

Further information
Short movie
Heerlijkheid Linde

Challenge

What happens if you would be able to 'erase' a tiny bit of the existing food system that also prevents change? What will the dairy farm of the future look like? These questions formed the starting point for a conversation between Courage and Reframing Studio. The project started when a dairy farmer (Christian and Sanne Klein Koerkamp) and a piece of land (the 'Linderveld' near Deventer), with IJssellandschap as a potential owner, presented itself. Together we started a journey to explore possible futures.

Project kick-off at 'hetLinderveld', north of Deventer.

Process

How is the life of residents in surrounding neighborhoods changing towards 2030? And how is our relation to food and nature developing? By doing research we learned more about this future context, resulting in a framework containing eight different future behaviours of people in relation to food (production) and their local landscape. This made it possible for Christian and Sanne to choose a behaviour they want to address as farmers in the future. From there, we started concepting and translated their mission into a concept named 'Heerlijkheid Linde'. With ‘Heerlijkheid Linde’, Sanne and Christian want to create a resting point in the busy and hurried lives of local residents. It is a place with attention for people, food, nature and the region.

What could grow on a plot of land is for instance determined by the type of soil or height of the land. To explore the possibilities together, we made a puzzle of ‘het Linderveld’.

The heart of 'Heerlijkheid Linde'

First 'Vrij Leven Stal' in the Netherlands

Developments

Christian and Sanne are busy making ‘Heerlijkheid Linde’ a reality. They run the organic dairy farm and also provide an attractive landscape with high natural value. Products from the land are sold directly to the inhabitants of Deventer, ‘de Vijfhoek’ and the surrounding villages. The ‘Vrij Leven Stal’ in the Netherlands is now located on the Linderveld. Cows determine their own rhythm and always have access to the pasture. Because ‘Heerlijkheid Linde’ is also about the encounter between consumer and producer, these worlds are brought together in the heart of the area. It is a lively place where milk and ice cream are made, and where visitors come to meet, relax and experience the rhythms of the farmer, cows, nature and seasons.