Boerderij Kreel

Boerderij Kreel is a beef and arable farm of just under 100 hectares on the edge of the Ginkelse heide near Ede, where a farmer and his parents raise a herd of beef cattle sold under the name Kreelse Koe.

The herd is all female: calves crossed from a Dutch dairy cow and a Belgian Blue bull arrive at twelve weeks old and are slaughtered at two and a half years at an EU-approved craft abattoir, where the meat is given extra time to set before cutting. The cows graze herb-rich meadows ringed by hedgerows, trees and ponds for ten months of the year, and the barn door stays open so they choose whether to be in or out. In winter they are housed on deep straw from the farm's own fields. Their feed is grown on the farm too: hay, grass, maize and mixed crops of grain, peas, sunflowers and herbs. The fields get as little synthetic fertiliser and spray as possible, weeds are kept down mechanically, and the soil is worked without ploughing.

How private buyers can order isn't spelled out on their website; the meat also goes to Slagerij 't Pleintje in Harskamp and into the farm's own catering, so call the farm to ask what is available.

The manure from the straw barn goes back onto the arable fields that grow the cattle's feed and bedding.