“Rolled into the farming life from a young age.”
Welcome to the Alblasserwaard — and welcome to the Den Besten family’s cheese farm. Here, Jan Pieter works alongside his wife and parents to milk their seventy cows and turn the fresh milk into traditional Gouda-style Boerenkaas.
The cooperative
The Den Besten family has been making cheese since 1978, back when the farm was still located on the Lekdijk in Langerak. From their very first wheel, they began supplying cheese to the nearby cooperative — a practical and natural choice that led to their membership.
When there was no more room to grow along the dike, the family relocated around the year 2000 to a larger plot of land deeper into the polder, where they continued to build and expand their farm.
Gouda-style farmhouse cheese
Jan Pieter knew from a young age that he wanted to be a farmer — he loved helping out with the cows or in the cheesemaking room. Today, he and his wife run the farm together with his parents, caring daily for their seventy dairy cows. Jan Pieter makes Boerenkaas five days a week, and the remaining milk is delivered to the dairy factory.
The farm’s specialty is a 16-kilo natural Gouda-style Boerenkaas, which is now also available from their brand-new cheese vending machine at the farm.
The future
Plans for the future of the farm are already taking shape. One of the goals is to create more space for the animals, and the family is also exploring ways to reduce artificial fertiliser use and close as many nutrient cycles on the farm as possible.
