Veldleeuwerik

Sustainable agriculture has to do with the soil. Different crops are grown in this soil and each crop contributes in a certain way to the quality of the soil. Sustainable agriculture means that there should be no deterioration in soil quality and soil fertility; you must be able to continue farming in the long term. So: keep what you have and improve where possible.

Due to the different effects of the crops on the soil, the crops and the order in which they are grown play an important role. The building plan is therefore important. You look much more at the total cycle than at a crop in a given year and this also applies to costs and yields.

The beginning of sustainability for a company is to develop a vision. Where do I want to be in 10-15 years? Once that is clear, every year a plan is drawn up to work step by step towards the vision: the sustainability plan. The sustainability plan is the basis for your actions: "Say what you do and do what you say." Your colleagues and customer advisors are there to help and support you, but they will also challenge you to go for it.

You must be able to name and value things in the discussions about sustainability. We do this on the basis of 10 indicators. You have to agree on which direction the indicators should go. Every new situation requires a fresh look. What is good for one indicator may not be good at all for another. Sustainability is not the implementation of prescribed rules, but the continuous search for the best way and the best direction, and to test that against each other. In the following pages you will find more about the indicators and their interrelationships.