Meet our keynote speakers

Hi Jacob! We are so glad to welcome you to the conference. To introduce you to our readers, could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

My name is Jacob van den Borne and I am an arable farmer and entrepreneur based in the south of the Netherlands, close to the Belgian border. I run a third-generation family farming business focused mainly on potato production. Together with more than 100 partner farmers, we grow crops using a data-driven approach and have been working with precision farming since 2006.

Everything starts from daily farming practice. Innovation is not the goal itself; it is a tool to help farmers make better decisions and create a future perspective for agriculture. Alongside the farm, I founded VDBorne Campus, an open innovation environment where farmers, researchers, technology companies and policymakers work together on the future of food production.

What made you start working with precision farming back in 2006, and what was that journey like for you?

We started working with precision farming because we wanted to better understand the many fields we manage together with other farmers. We often had limited information about field history and local conditions, so we began collecting data to gain more insight into soil variability, crop performance and management decisions.

Over the years, precision farming has helped us improve efficiency and make better decisions based on facts rather than assumptions. For me, precision farming is not about technology itself. It is about understanding what is happening in the field and using that knowledge to farm more effectively.

Your mission statement is “Farming the Future. Together.” What does that mean to you, and why does that collaborative dimension matter?

For me, collaboration is essential. Farmers face increasing expectations from consumers, governments and society. Meeting all those expectations individually is becoming increasingly difficult. By working together with farmers, researchers, companies and policymakers, we can learn faster, innovate more effectively and achieve goals that would be impossible on our own. 

You are going to be a keynote speaker at the conference. What do you hope people will take away from your talk?

I hope people leave with the understanding that sustainability and profitability should go hand in hand. For many years, innovation in primary production focused on producing a standard product at the lowest possible cost. In the future, we also need to recognise the environmental footprint of food production and reward farmers for the value they create.

At the same time, sustainability only works when there is an economic perspective. Farmers can only invest in new technologies and more sustainable production systems if those investments are supported throughout the value chain. Creating that balance will be one of the key challenges for the future of agriculture.

Do you want to know more?

The conference takes place in Alnarp on November 25th. Follow the link for more information (Swedish).