Willem Derynck is a self-employed helper on his parents' greenhouse farm in Ardooie, Belgium. Besides cucumbers, they grow string beans and parsley there. At the end of this year, he hopes to take over his parents' farm.
In the midst of the EHEC crisis, Willem initially chose security by pursuing an education at VTI instead of immediately enrolling in the agricultural school VABI. By the fourth year of secondary school, it became clear that he would rather be cutting salad in the morning than sitting in school anyway.
After secondary school, the choice of agriculture was obvious, and he moved on to Vives College. "That's where everything actually blossomed, and by now, I can't see myself doing anything else," he says in conversation with Boerenbond. "During that period, I joined Groene Kring, became provincial president in West Flanders for a while, and found my way to the horticulture working group, of which I am now president. As a result, I was also delegated to the Vegetables sector trade group at Boerenbond, which was a logical next step for me and one with which I feel very comfortable."
Takeover
The greenhouse farm consists of 8,000 m² of covered cultivation, half of which is full of cucumbers. It also grows a small amount of string beans and parsley in winter, supplemented by annually changing crops such as cabbage lettuce, corn salad, or radishes. "It's nice that our business is quite flexible in that respect. I like to try new things, just like I used to with my father; it keeps my grower's heart awake."
After the planned farm takeover, Willem hopes to work with his parents for another year before they retire for good. "Then we will have to see how we handle it. I am now going to live with my girlfriend in my grandparents' former house, but we don't yet know whether we will continue to live there or switch homes with my parents."
Hydroponic cultivation
Willem's passion for cucumbers began with their cultivation supervisor at the farm. When he encountered hydroponics during his internship, he was convinced of the growing method, and the switch was made at home. "Three years ago, everything here on the farm was completely renovated, and we also installed the latest climate controls. We built our system completely ourselves. That ensures that if you break down, you can usually solve the problem yourself, and we were able to tailor everything completely to our own farm. Growing cucumbers hydroponically is a top sport. Our previous 25-year-old computer could no longer perform complex calculations. With the new system, it automatically looks for additional ways to save energy so that we need to heat less. This is probably where we have made the biggest gains, but we also reuse everything in terms of water and have nothing left over from residual flow. Every drop of water has the same consistency to avoid deficiency symptoms, and we get better production as a logical consequence."
Day of the cucumber
Since 2010, the Vegetable Fruit Bureau has declared 1 July as Cucumber Day. "That's fun, of course, because we see a lot of know-it-alls passing that around on social media every year. For me, it could easily be advertised a bit more. There's also the Week of Chicory, for example, which I think is a great initiative. That way, we can bring our vegetables back into the spotlight. Especially at the beginning of the year, that's interesting for us because, after the winter, we obviously have to get consumers hooked on cucumbers again."
Farmers' protests during spring
In the early days of the farmers' protests this spring, Willem initially wanted to keep somewhat aloof, believing that you can get better results through conversation. "If that conversation ends up being too one-sided, of course, you have to use other means. When the minister in charge played solo Muslim in Antwerp, I nevertheless sprang into action. That same day, I visited our action at the Blue Tower in Bruges and then went to Zelzate. At the Botweg action in Roeselare, I got the chance to speak on stage as a young farmer. In hindsight, we mainly managed to generate extra support among the population, but I hope to still see a significant difference in the field itself. Every party was outspokenly in favor of the agricultural sector before the elections, but let us hope they do not forget this in the coming months and weeks. I personally still believe very hard in our future because even if they forget about us, they will eventually come back to us for food supply."
Farmer seeks wife
Willem met his girlfriend Laura in the KLJ of Ardooie. When they were still just friends, Laura took part in "Farmer Seeks Wife," but without success. Sometime later, the spark finally struck between them, and the friendship became a relationship. "Laura herself has no background in farming and is currently working outside the home. We will see in the coming years whether she joins us on our farm or not. In hindsight, I am very glad I joined KLJ for an extra year because I had actually quit and still wanted to go back. Then I got to know Laura, and we are both very happy that she found her farmer after all!"