opinion and background Partners in Novifarm go for sustainable growth Novifarm can store 6,700 tons of potatoes and/or onions, of which 2,400 tons are mechanically cooled. There is also suitable space to store 500 tons of produce in boxes. For years, they had just been good neighbours, the Noordam and Visser families from the village of Numansdorp in the Dutch province of South Holland. Only cadastral boundaries, either in the form of ditches or roads, made up the boundary between their fields. They freely farmed on their adjoining farms to their own ideas and experience. The Visser family had adopted a rather intensive farm management system using nearly 200 hectares, and were growing crops such as potatoes, beets and cereals, but also celeriac and Brussels sprouts. The Noordam family had opted for a more extensive farm management system, growing lots of cereals, sugar beet, Alfafa and first-year onion sets, but no potatoes. Despite their contentment with their chosen management systems, they were confronted with a number of problems, the founders of Novifarm told us. ‘As a consequence of the large amount of sprouts in their cropping plan, we were always on the go, either outside in the field or inside in the shed. As a result, there was hardly any time left for proper planning, Hendrik Visser says. Arie Noordam also encountered some problems. He mentions investing in mechanisation as an example: ‘Every now and then, we would need a new tractor, to replace an old model, for heavier work or some other convincing reason. But these were never really profitable investments, even if you farm 140 hectares.’ At one point, we found that there was another important argument. Bert Visser (67) is Hendrik Visser’s father and, as a ‘sleeping partner’ in the General Partnership, he has also been closely involved in the partnership discussions. He takes the point of the farm takeover as an additional reason for cooperation: ‘Arie and I have both reached the age for taking things a bit more slowly. Also, we both want the farm businesses we have built up to continue to generate good profits for our successors. Four plus four is 600 hectares These considerations and, no doubt, a great deal more were the reasons for the neighbours to start talking some five years ago and this resulted in the formation of Novifarm General Partnership three years ago. They found that the Partnership achieved the desired progress right from the start. Due to their mutual discussions, Arie Noordam, Hendrik Visser and his brother-in-law and co-partner Jan Boer (39) are now working much more efficiently than they could ever have done if they had carried on alone. The partners mention that they received a lot of support from retired city manager Ger Jansen (80) during the formation of the partnership. ‘Thanks to his broad work experience, he was able to guide this merger process very well legally, fiscally and administratively.’ Some time Thanks to GPS, we can use this machine day and night and it ploughs as straight as an arrow. It also allows us to utilise the best land-working days in the field. Potato World 2010 • number 4 25 Pagina 24

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