Farmer (Boer)

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‎A farmer is an agrarian who in most cases can also be regarded as an entrepreneur. A farmer therefore works on his own farm. Another name for farmer can also be gentleman farmer, if the farmer has a large farm with a lot of land and is wealthy enough to hire staff. The gentleman farmer is therefore not working the land himself for whole days, because in most cases gentleman farmers use agricultural employees. In earlier days, a helper on the farm was also called a servant, but nowadays we speak more about agricultural employee. A farmer with a small farm is also called a small farmer. As a farmer you can be active in agriculture and / or livestock. Most farmers have their own agricultural land or lease land from municipalities, provinces, nature organizations or from noble families, who previously own a lot of land. In earlier days, it was not uncommon for farmers to move around without a permanent farm. The farmers used to clear forests by burning them down. When the ground was exhausted, the farmers moved to the next forest to start over. It was only when fertilizing land was invented that the farmers stopped moving around as nomads, from which the farms as we know them today originated. The profession of farmer should also be seen as fairly general, because not all farmers carry out the same work. For example, an arable farmer cannot simply be compared to a livestock farmer. In many cases, farms are combined farms, but this does not always have to be the case. Keeping livestock involves activities other than working agricultural land for crops. It is true that all farmers develop economic activities as entrepreneurs. The profession of farmer is a beautiful profession, but nowadays the profession of farmer can also be regarded as a heavy profession. This mainly relates to economic conditions.‎

‎Working on a farm has become a lot easier today than in the past, due to the arrival of modern ‎‎tractors‎‎ and machines. Most larger farmers nowadays also employ staff or use a ‎‎contracting company‎‎ when necessary. On a farm there is always something to do, because in addition to milking or feeding the animals, land must also be processed. In addition, a farmer will regularly spend a lot of time on the maintenance of the farm, or machines that have broken down. As described earlier, a farmer can also use staff members. In that case, one generally speaks of ‎‎agricultural employees‎‎. An agricultural employee cannot simply be compared to the old-fashioned servant, because agricultural employees nowadays must have full-fledged vocational training. An old-fashioned ‎‎servant‎‎ could in many cases be seen as an unskilled ‎‎worker‎‎. There are quite a lot of farmers who use staff nowadays, because quite a lot of farms nowadays are large enterprises. Scaling up is fairly important nowadays when we talk about farms.‎

‎LIVESTOCK FARMING AND LIVESTOCK FARMING‎

‎Animal husbandry and animal husbandry are both a branch of agriculture that can be practiced by farmers. By livestock farming and livestock farming we mean, among other things, ‎‎horse‎‎ breeding, ‎‎poultry‎‎ farming, reindeer farming, ‎‎cattle farming‎‎ and ‎‎pig farming‎‎. All these different branches of animal husbandry and animal husbandry are done by a farmer for the ‎‎milk‎‎, eggs and meat. In the Dutch agricultural sector, a total of about one hundred million animals are kept, including about four million ‎‎cows‎‎ and calves. In the Netherlands we also have the so-called intensive livestock farming, which includes pig farming and poultry farming. In intensive livestock farming, the big difference is that they are not dependent on a lot of land and grass, as other farmers usually are, so that many animals can be kept on a smaller area.‎

‎AGRICULTURE‎

‎Agriculture among farmers in the Netherlands is generally understood to mean the cultivation of squeakers, corn or sugar beets. But of course there are many more types of ‎‎agriculture‎‎ possible, such as growing fruit, vineyards and greenhouse horticulture. Farmers are quick to speak of intensive agriculture, because the farmers work the ‎‎fields‎‎ with large machines and in many cases use artificial fertilizers and pesticides. About fifteen percent of all agricultural land worldwide is used to grow cereals such as corn, rice, oats, wheat, barley and rye. In the Netherlands it used to be customary to grow ‎‎tobacco plants‎‎ for the tobacco industry, but this is no longer done.‎

‎FUTURE OF FARMERS AND FARMS‎

‎What exactly the future will bring for farmers and farms in general nobody knows exactly, but there are quite a lot of farmers who stop because the return is too low and in the event of a possible takeover it is difficult to find a ‎‎financier‎‎. Especially the smaller farmers usually have a hard time making ends meet. The tendency is therefore that smaller farmers stop and lease their land to the larger farmers, who can or know how to survive. There are also quite a lot of farmers who start a new farm abroad such as in Poland, Canada and America. There are even special ‎‎brokers‎‎ who guide farmers who want to emigrate abroad. There are also more and more farmers who start their own dairy shop, where, for example, homemade ‎‎cheese‎‎ is sold to increase yields.‎

‎WHAT DOES A FARMER DO:‎

‎TRAINING TO BECOME A FARMER‎

‎Those who want to work as a farmer can choose from various training options. The most well-known training to become a farmer is the ‎‎MBO training animal keeper dairy cattle (livestock farming).‎‎ In this course it is possible to choose various directions that are focused on animals, plants, environment and food. The different directions from which one chooses include livestock farming, ‎‎contract work‎‎, plant cultivation, ‎‎animal caretaker‎‎, horse farming, nature and green space. The courses can be followed at different levels up to the MBO level four. After the programme, you can choose a further education at hbo level, such as the hbo-education animal and livestock farming, or follow a university education at the university of Wageningen. Accounting is ‎‎also‎‎ important as an entrepreneur.‎

‎COMPANIES WHERE A FARMER CAN BE EMPLOYED

‎A farmer must be regarded as ‎‎an entrepreneur‎‎ who works within his or her own farm. As described earlier, the profession of farmer must also be seen as very general, because a farmer can develop different activities as a farmer. All farmers have in common that they can be regarded as independent entrepreneurs. The profession of farmer can, as described earlier, also occur in other ways. Think, for example, of a ‎‎winegrower‎‎ or a ‎‎flower grower‎‎. A flower grower can also be regarded as a farmer, because a flower grower works in horticulture. Horticulture belongs to arable farming. A fair number of farmers can traditionally also be classified as ‎‎hunters‎‎. As a hunter, you usually also have to deal with a ‎‎gamekeeper‎‎.‎

‎COMPETENCES FARMER‎

‎As a farmer, it is first and foremost very important that you do not mind a lot of hard work, because after the daily work the ‎‎administration‎‎ will still be waiting for you. As a farmer, you usually work all day and days off will generally be rare. In addition, farm life can bring tension such as: what will the harvest yield this year and can you harvest at all this year. In other words, a farmer will have to be ‎‎stress resistant‎‎. Other important competences of a farmer are the general professional knowledge. Without the right knowledge, it is not possible to work as a farmer. Because a farmer has a lot to do with agricultural machinery and installations in general, a farmer must be able to be regarded as an all-round ‎‎mechanic‎‎ and ‎‎technician‎‎. On farms, something generally breaks down regularly. Being able to solve malfunctions and other types of maintenance work independently is then important. Generally important words are ‎‎motivation‎‎, ‎‎innovation‎‎, ‎‎commercial‎‎, vigilance, ‎‎security‎‎, control and ‎‎networking‎‎.‎

‎LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A FARMER‎

‎The labour market perspective of a farmer does not really apply, because in most cases a farmer must be regarded as an entrepreneur. In other words, a farmer will have to determine the labour market perspective himself by starting his own farm. In that respect, the labour market perspective of a farmer is not good, because starting your own farm is not easy nowadays. The growth opportunities of a farmer can really only be seen in the expansion of the farm. Think, for example, of leasing agricultural land from ‎‎large landowners‎‎.‎

‎WORKING CONDITIONS AND SALARY FARMER‎

‎As an independent entrepreneur, you determine your own terms of employment, so these do not apply to this profession. There is also no salary indication for this profession, because the salary will depend entirely on your success as an entrepreneur. If you have a good year, you earn more than when the yields are low.‎

The content on this page has been automatically translated from the Dutch language. For this reason, texts and videos on this page may contain small errors.

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