On my way to New Zealand

On my way to New Zealand

At the moment I am at Amsterdam airport, just checked in and on my way to New Zealand. And thinking about what to expect. I know we have a good program with good speakers, so I’m sure we’ll be update thoroughly on the New Zealand situation in the coming GDF congress. The thing I like the best about these trips that you’re traveling and learning as a group. You don’t have to digest and analyse alle the information you receive on your own. But you can use the brain power of the whole group.

It's been 5 years since I’ve been in New Zealand. I’m very curious about how the farmers look at the future of dairy in New Zealand. Like in many other countries, the dairy sector has its challenges. It will interesting to hear what the overall sentiment in the sector is. But even more interesting to me is how individual farmers look at this and how they look at their strategy forward. I’m convinced there’s room for dairy as part of a sustainable food system. Probably the way of producing will have to change in order to be more sustainable, but there is a future for the sector.

This summer the congress of European Dairy Farmers will take place in the Netherlands. For the preparation of the congress we (as Wageningen University) are working on a project. As part of this project we’ve been talking to some Dutch EDF members. This was (as always) truly inspiring. The challenges are big in the Netherlands, but some of these EDF members have a clear vision on their future and have a strategy in place. I’m sure we’ll meet those kind of farmers in New Zealand as well!

Alfons Beldman

As a passionate advocate for sustainable dairy farming and entrepreneurship, Alfons had dedicated his career to these important topics. At Wageningen Economic Research, he primarily works on projects with industry partners to promote sustainability throughout the supply chain.

Since 2006, he has been involved with Global Dairy Farmers, an international network of dairy farmers and related business partners. Together with Bram Prins, he brought the Nuffield program to the Netherlands. The first scholars were selected in 2011, and they have since established a strong network of Nuffield scholars in the country.