The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowDe Hooilanden
- Cattle, sheep or goats graze on pasture in the grazing season
- No synthetic pesticides or fertiliser (certified)
- Nature-inclusive farming
- Agroforestry
- Zero waste
De Hooilanden is an organic dairy farm in the Binnenveld at Bennekom, where a farming couple keep 65 Blaarkop cows and turn their milk into raw milk, raw-milk butter and cheese.
The farm has been converted from intensive dairy since 2004 and is certified organic (SKAL); we found it in the register under the owners' names at this address. The cows graze day and night from March until November or December, when the wet valley soil can no longer carry them; in winter they stay indoors, going out briefly on days when the ground is frozen. Raw milk is sold straight from the tank into your own bottle, only chilled and filtered. Butter is churned from March to October from soured cream ripened for 48 hours. Their Hooilander Graskaas is made only while the cows are on fresh grass, and a second, washed-rind cheese ripens on the farm. Beef comes from their own cows once they stop milking, and a few Bonte Bentheimer pigs, fed on the farm's green waste, become ham.
The self-service shop works with regular customers, so make an appointment for your first visit. The products are also sold at Het Kraatswinkeltje in Bennekom and at De Hoge Born and Lena's Kaaswinkeltje in Wageningen.
All the calves are born in March, April and May, so the cows' needs follow the growth of the grass.