Mariënberg, Noordmeer, Sibculo

''The cow defines the landscape,' says Jan Broenink, a farmer from Bruinehaar. Broenink loves the Blaarkop beef, an old Dutch breed of cow. Blaarkoppen used to be important in the Netherlands, but became less popular with the advent of modern dairy cows. Now the Blaarkop is slowly coming back. Not as a dairy cow, but to manage the landscape.

Broenink lets his Blaar heads graze in the Engbertsdijksvenen, a well-known peat bog area. This area is protected and you are not allowed to do anything there without permission. The Blaar heads help keep the landscape open here. Without these cows, the area would turn into an ordinary bog forest. Especially the raised bog, which makes the area so special, would disappear.

Broenink's statement that 'the cow defines the landscape' goes beyond the Engbertsdijksvenen. Fields of maize and grass, which we see everywhere, are there for the dairy cows. This is because of the Friesian-Dutch dairy cattle. In the nineteenth century, Americans bought the best cows of this breed and improved them, so we now have the Holstein cow, which gives a lot of milk. This cow, almost always black and white, dominates the Dutch landscape.

Yet we see more and more other types of cows, especially for meat. These cattle, such as Limousin, Charolais and Blonde d'Aquitaine from France, have a lot of muscle and are popular for their meat. Belgisch Blauwe and Verbeterd Roodbont cows are also meat breeds we see here and there. Farmers often move their cattle around, so fields can be full of cows one day and empty the next.

In many nature reserves we also see large grazers, such as Scottish Highlanders. These large, long-haired cows with big horns are not originally Dutch, but we now see them a lot. Also in Twente and Salland, although farmer Broenink doesn't like them. 'Weeds! We have beautiful Dutch breeds, don't we? Blaarkoppen were already here in the Middle Ages!'

Pit stops Brandred Beef and Blaarkop are 10 and 3 kilometres from the route, respectively. If you want to be sure to see these breeds, you can opt for a diversion. Will the route then become too long? Then be sure to listen or read the information in the description to not miss a thing.


This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Matthijs Termeer.