The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowDe Beekhoeve
- Cattle, sheep or goats graze on pasture in the grazing season
- No synthetic pesticides or fertiliser (certified)
De Beekhoeve is a certified organic dairy farm on about 50 hectares of peat meadow at Kamerik, where around eighty dual-purpose cows give milk and beef and much of the milk is made into raw dairy on the farm.
The herd is Maas-Rijn-IJssel, Blaarkop and Jersey cattle, all born on the farm. For most of spring, summer and autumn, weather permitting, the cows graze outside day and night, and their diet is about 95% grass and herbs, with silage and hay in winter and a little European grain, no soya, at milking. All the dairy is raw, so the milk is not pasteurised, homogenised or filtered: milk and cream, butter, buttermilk, yoghurt, kefir, hangop (strained yoghurt), a feta-style white cheese and boerenkaas (raw-milk farm cheese) at several ages. The beef and charcuterie also come from their own cows. The farm is SKAL-certified; we found it in the register.
The farm shop is open on Monday from 18:00 to 19:30, Wednesday and Friday from 14:00 to 16:00 and Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00. It also sells organic vegetables and fruit, mostly bought in from other organic growers, as well as juices and raw honey from local beekeepers.
Reed and dry grass cut on nature land the farm manages becomes bedding in the deep-litter barn (potstal), and the manure from it replaces artificial fertiliser on the fields.