farming

“I see it as my mission to bring the farm closer to the consumer.”

Mariëlle Schalk, Hoogstraten (Belgium) Mariëlle Schalk and her family run ‘t Kakelhof in the Belgian village of Meer, near the border with the Netherlands. The farm specializes in laying hens and has a grading plant where its own eggs are graded for sale. Those eggs, along with other local produce from fellow local farmers, are […]

Unravelling unconscious bias: It starts with us

by Melanie Epp When I was a kid, I loved riddles. I remember one that really stumped me. It went something like this: A father and son get into a serious automobile accident. The father dies on the way to the hospital. The boy requires surgery. In the operating room, the surgeon said, “I […]

Raising cattle in the Drowned land of Saeftinghe

Kris Van Royen, beef and pig farmer, Netherlands Right on the Belgian-Dutch border, in the Prosperpolder, we find Kris Van Royen and her husband, Geert’s cattle and pig farm: Saeftingherhof. The farm specializes in a very special meat, called “pré salé meat”. Women in Ag had a talk with Kris about what that is exactly. […]

“I feel deep respect for each of the amazing women who manage a farm”

Doris Letina, apple farmer and Vice-President of CEJA She is young, she is ambitious, she grew up on a farm and represents the second generation of women there, and she is very involved in organisations for young farmers in Europe. Women in Ag talked to Doris Letina, Slovenian apple farmer and Vice-President of CEJA, the […]

Women in Ag Magazine #1 – Preface

I’ve come a long way since that day I was startled awake at 5 a.m. by the smell of slurry drifting in my bedroom and thinking the world was coming to a loud and smelly end, eight years ago. Before that day, I was a city girl. Born and raised just north of Brussels, my […]