“The cheese experience”

Animal welfare was Ton Spijkerman’s primary reason to start his organic dairy and cattle farm in Wapserveen in 1994. “We regard organic farming as the most sustainable way to farm”, says Spijkerman.

With 70 cows and one bull grazing 60 hectares of land, Spijkerman is out in the fields all day. “The fact that the animals are outside much of the year makes them strong. We don’t use antibiotics and we don’t use pesticides on the land. All this improves the quality of the milk.”

And this milk is used to produce organic cheese in the Bastiaansen cheese plant.

Spijkerman: “The Netherlands is known for cheese around the world. As a country we have developed tremendous knowledge about making cheese.

And all this knowledge is also available for the production of organic cheese.”

“When you produce organic cheese this knowledge and experience count even more. The milk from cows that live in the field is different from the milk that comes from indoor cows. But the cheese you produce has to have a constant quality. That requires experience”, says Spijkerman.

Spijkerman and 30 other organic farmers are part of a group of 300 dairy farmers, who all deliver their daily milk output to the same cooperative. The organic farmers use a separate distribution and production network within the cooperative. “Our cheese factory is a small factory. What I really appreciate is, that the factory keeps us closely involved. As farmers we want to know who our end clients are and how the market works. Recently, the organic dairy farmers visited Emmerich in Germany, to see a plant where our organic cheese is cut and packed for the catering industry. It is important for us to meet these people.”