812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 3,1985
Dutch students visit Lancaster County
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
LANCASTER - Thirty-five
agricultural students from the
Praktijkschool Horst in The
Netherlands visited Lancaster
County this week as part of a 15-
day study tour throughout Canada
and northeastern United States.
Henk von Dam, teacher at the
school and trip organizer, said that
the trip was designed to help the
students see farms and learn
practical applications of fanning
methods.
Explaining that the school is
designed to offer a practical
education in agriculture, von Dam
said that 80 to 90 percent of the 400
students who attend the school
throughout the year have a far
ming background. “Most will go
back to the farm, and some will try
to get a job in an agricultural
business,” he said.
As in this country, it is very
difficult to buy a farm in The
Netherlands, and for most young
people the only possible way is to
take over the parents’ farm.
While dairying is the primary
agricultural enterprise, von Dam
said that the school, located in the
south of the country, gets as many
students for swine and horses as
for dairy. Poultry students are the
fewest in number, but that in
dustry is becoming more im
portant.
Von Dam said that the average
farm in The Netherlands has about
40 milking cows and is 20 hectares
in size. They have a strict quota
system for milk, and farmers are
paid for milk on the basis of fat and
protein. Average production for
that country is 5,600 kilograms.
For the students, there were not
a lot of new ideas to be learned for
the poultry and swine operations
they visited on this continent,
because their own industry is
relatively new and very modem.
In dairying, however, von Dam
said, “The feeding is very dif
ferent. We feed mostly pasture and
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some grass and com silage. We
learned about the complete feed
used here.” Silage, he noted, is
stored in bunkers, under plastic,
not in silos which are so common in
this country.
Dairy cattle in The Netherlands
are mostly Friesian, with red and
white more common in the south,
where they remain dual purpose
animals.
Promotion is important in the
dairy industry, with a special
commission set up to promote milk
and cheese. He said the average
person drinks 150 liters of milk per
year.
A part of the European
Economic Community, The
Netherlands exports about 90
percent of their agricultural
products. Von Dam said, “Far
mers are not always happy about
the EEC but they know what
prices they will get.” He added
that there once was a lot of
discussion about the Community,
but that has slowed considerably.
The Praktijkschool Horst has
grown to include 30 acres since its
establishment in 1953, and offers
both theoretical and practical
education. The school has facilities
for its 200 breeding sows, 6(M
fattening pigs, 10,000 laying hens
3,000 pullets, 6,000 broilers and 60
MIX
cows and 40 calves. They also use
the facilities of about 68 guest
farms in the immediate area. The
philosophy of the school is that
each person must find his own area
of specialization. In addition to
courses which last for one year,
there are others which are offered
for shorter periods of time.
According to von Dam, up to 50
percent of students enrolled in
agriculture at universities may be
women. However the two women
in the group of 35 more accurately
reflects the population of the
students at the practical schools,
since “most farmers will be men.”
In addition to visiting poultry,
swine and dairy operations, the
group visited research centers as
they traveled in the northeast. In
Lancaster County, they visited the
Triple G Farms dairy after
traveling through the local
countryside.
They stayed primarily in
campgrounds, and helped the
budget by doing some of their own
cooking.
Von Dam said that for the most
part, the young students, who
ranged in age from 18-23, were not
surprised by what they observed in
the United States. He said the
excursion offered was an integral
part of the program at the school.
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Farmer’s Cheese Co-Op will be paying its farmers on a bi
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P.O. Box 198 New Wilmington, PA 16142
(412) 946-8729
t
Wr k
s *
Zoann Parker, Lancaster County 4-H agent, welcomes
Henk von Dam, agricultural teacher from The Netherlands
who is traveling in Northeastern United States with 35 of his
students. They visited Lancaster County as part of a 15-day
study tour.
We're
119 Quality!
■«w*