At the end of this year, Jan Verbaarschot is stepping down as a consultant at Horti-Consult International. Erik Stappers is new to the team. He will take over a number of Jan's clients.
Jan started as a consultant in 1978, and now, 46 years later he is stopping giving advice. Jan started at a time when it was not yet common for growers to use an independent crop consultant. His first clients were the Van Rompaeys in the Noorderkempen region. Back then, they cultivated tomatoes, which were, of course, planted in the ground.
Of course, a lot has changed. Cultivation companies have become much larger, the technology in the greenhouses is more advanced, energy management is almost as important as cultivation management and the arrival of the smartphone has made it easier to exchange all kinds of data quickly. For example, a picture of a suspicious plant is quickly taken and can then be assessed together.
"During a company visit, the cultivation manager is often no longer the entrepreneur himself but an employee, and I walk around the greenhouse with several people during a visit. No problem, but consulting with the person with final responsibility, the grower himself, is just a bit more pleasant because you can switch faster," says Jan.
"Today's cultivation advice is tailor-made advice that takes into account the complexity of the farms. In the past, everyone did the same thing. People planted tomatoes and cucumbers around the same dates, so there was more unity in growing. Then I could write one piece of growing advice every week for all horticulturists."
Jan is confident that horticulture will remain in the Netherlands in the future. In any case, he will enjoy his own flower and vegetable garden with his grandchildren next year.
A new face
From 1 October 2024, Erik Stappers will also be part of Horti-Consult International's team of crop consultants. For the past eight years, Erik has been working at Signify as a cultivation specialist in vegetable crops. In this position, he gained a lot of experience with many different cultivation situations at home and abroad.
This, together with the experience he gained earlier while working at a cultivation company, has created a broad base to join Horti-Consult as a consultant. In particular, he will provide advice on the cucumber and tomato crops. The main working area is the Benelux, but he will also advise companies elsewhere in Europe.
Challenges in the coming years
"My goal is to help growers optimize their crops in a constantly changing situation. Optimization of production and quality are of course important, but also efficiency and economic return of the cultivation method to be followed is something you have to keep a sharp eye on at all times. By analyzing the crop in a systematic, practical way, we can substantiate and justify the decisions we make. People regularly characterize me as a perfectionist, a trait that entails that I am not easily satisfied, but also continuously strive to improve."
Dealing with energy and labor in cultivation are the big challenges for the coming years that Erik wants to work on. For example, every farm will have to learn to grow flexibly and with less energy. But labor availability and costs are also under pressure. Robotisation will eventually be able to solve part of this challenge, but the way we deal with labor will undoubtedly have a major impact on the cultivation-technical choices made.
Replacing Jan
At some companies, Jan has spent his entire working life as a crop consultant, sometimes for almost 50 years. Erik will continue the cooperation on behalf of Horti-Consult at some of these companies. But Erik also hopes to start working for growers from his own network, hopefully creating a nice mix of different growers to whom he may give advice. "In any case, I am looking forward to it and curiously looking forward to the coming years."