Forward Farming [Vooruitboeren]

Historians Ewout van der Horst and Martin van der Linde of the Overijsselacademie spoke with more than sixty farmers, farmers’ wives and related professional groups from Overijssel about the changes within the agricultural sector. The arrival of the milking machine, tractor and cubicle stall meant a major change in agricultural operations and the lives of farmers. With melancholy and pride, people talk about things like land, education, breeding, cooperatives and livestock markets, about how, with hard work, little by little they were able to farm ahead.
With the help of photographer and cameraman Albert Bartelds, the people’s life stories have also been portrayed.

Through the online platform MijnStadMijnDorp, hundreds of stories, films and photographs have been published that offer a personal glimpse into postwar farm life in Overijssel.

• For video footage of the interviews (excerpts), see here.
• For brief biographies of the interviewees and downloadable text edits of the interviews, see here.

In the richly illustrated book Vooruitboeren, the researchers describe how farming changed from tradition to agricultural entrepreneurship.