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The story of the Netherlands,
inaccurately referred to as
‘Holland’, is unique in the history
of nations. Nearly 27 percent of the
land area of this pocket-sized
country lies twenty feet below sea
level! Nearly half of all Dutch
families live below sea level.
For more than 1700 years, the
Dutch have built dykes and
reclaimed the fertile land to build
cities and farms. They are still at
it, and when the present project is
finished, in about 20 years, they
will have added another 750,000
acres of prime farmland to their
country.
It is from this vast area and its
surrounding environs that the
Dutch have created the series of
ring Canals, drainage ditches and
supporting dykes that make
possible the formation of arable
land called Polders. The Polder
farms, reclaimed from the bottom
of the sea, are among the richest
farmland in the world. The soil is
many meters deep, composed of
silt carried in and deposited by the
mightly rivers flowing out of
Central Europe over hundreds of
centuries.
Each time new areas are
drained, many interesting items
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are found. Museums are filled with
bones of prehistoric animals,
ancient cannons and balls, anchors
and remains of thousand year old
ships. One of the recently drained
polders revealed many remains of
fighter planes downed or crashed
in two World Wars. On a Polder
farm which we visited, we were
shown some of these artifacts,
including a cannonball and some
stone age tools found by the far
mer.
Dairying is one of the more
important farm enterprises in
Holland. Driving through the vast,
flat. Polder plain, you get the
impression that Holland is heavily
populated with well fed cattle. It’s
easy to recognize the big Black and
White Friesians, which had their
origins in the regions of Holstein
and Friesland, just to the East of
Holland. But there are also plenty
of Dutch Belted and quite a few
Red Holsteins. And they are
certainly well fed, because there is
an abundance cf the lushest,
greenest grass you’ll ever see.
The fields and pastures are well
defined by drainage ditches and
canals. Although some of the
smaller ditches are green with
algae and duckweed, the water is
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not stagnant. It is constantly
moving, either as slightly brackish
water out toward the sea, or as
‘sweet water’ moving inland from
the freshwater lakes supplied by
the river Yssel or the Rhine itself.
One farm we visited converts the
total production of milk into Gouda
cheese. The herd of 40 Red
Friesians produces 800 liters of
milk a day, which translates into
about 350 pounds of delicious
Gouda cheese. The cows are
housed in a new and very modem
bam, separated from the original
farm house. The older buildings,
which included both living quar
ters and stables, are converted into
the cheese factory and sales room.
It’s a small family operation, and
typically Spic & Span, just like the
Old Dutch Cleanser.
We also visited a bulb farm,
north of Volendam. It was also a
family arm operation, growing 25
acres of Italian Ryegrass for seed,
22 acres of Gladiolus bulbs, and 45
acres of Tulip bulbs, mostly for
export. The flowers were not in
bloom, but we did get to see how
the millions of bulbs are cleaned,
graded and packaged for storing
and for sale. Each visitor received
a pack of tulip bulbs to bring home,
so Lebanon County should be
bursting with blooms next spring.
Flowers are a major farm
product of the Netherlands. The
flower market at Aalsmeer is the
largest flower auction in the world.
From the visitors gallery spanning
the length of the vast building, we
could view a sea of fresh-cut
flowers. Four large and very ef
ficient auction rooms sell an
average of 9 million cut flowers
and 700,000 plants each day. The
building itself is impressive,
covering nearly 60 acres- the
largest commercial building in the
world. Over 4000 buyers are
registered to buy flowers. Over
50,000 transactions are handled
entirely by computer. Many of the
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large purchases are on their way to
other parts of Europe or North
America within minutes of pur
chase.
A visitor to Holland can still see
windmills and wooden shoes, but
Price Herefords named
HARRISONVILLE - Two
Hereford females from the
Richard Price herd, Harrisonville,
were recognized by the American
Polled Hereford Association as
Benchmark Dams.
Prices Polled Hereford iPPH)
Ms. Perfect 326 710 and PPH
Fairlady 608 joined 523 other
females selected for the honor
Ms. Perfect, received recognition
last year as a Benchmark dam
UNIVERSITY PARK - Far
mers can pick up valuable tips on
energy saving from Penn State
James W. Garthe, Extension
specialist in agricultural
engineering, has prepared a series
of fact sheets. Farm Energy,
which detail energy conservation
practices from various farm
settings.
Garthe’s work with the
Governor’s Energy Council has
received national recognition A
series of six manuals are available
from Penn State. Subject areas
and Farm Energy numbers are
-1) Energy Conservation Ideas
for Livestock Operations (Farm
STATE
Uacasler.Fanning, SatMfdar. Octobers, 1983-09.
Benchmark Dams
Farm Energy
Fact Sheets available
you come away feeling that the
Dutch farmers are right on top of
modern technology. They have to
be. considering that they farm land
that was once on the bottom of the
sea
Only 25 percent of a cattleman s
herd, in any one year, is eligible for
Benchmark recognition Price
said his two winners is rather
significant considering his herd
numbers 11 animals
Benchmark Dams are
recognized for "the consistent,
superior productivity essential to
efficient beef production " The
honor is determined by the
American Polled Hereford
Association
Energy *l l
2) Efficient Grain Handling
Practices (Farm Energy »2 1
3) Heat Reclaimers on Dairy
Farms ( Farm Energy #3)
4) Heat Pumps for Pennsylvania
t Farm Energy M)
51 Selection and Efficient
Operation of Agricultural
Equipment (Farm Energy »5 1
6) Just for the Record - A
Maintenance Ix>g for Tractors and
Equipment (Farm Energy )
You can receive the fact sheets
by writing to: ENERGY,
University Park, PA 16802 (order
manuals by using the Farm
Energy number).