Cattle in the Salland landscape
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.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Noordelijke Kanaaldijk , 7447 TL Hellendoorn | 51 KM | |
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From
85
to
4
|
1265 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head southeast on Noordelijke Kanaaldijk | 411 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Zuidelijke Kanaaldijk | 854 M | ||
| You are now at section 4 | 0 M | ||
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From
4
to
34
|
2503 M | 2.5 KM | |
| Head east on Zuidelijke Kanaaldijk | 2.5 KM | ||
| You are now at section 34 | 0 M | ||
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From
34
to
35
|
3733 M | 3.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Zuidelijke Kanaaldijk | 1.8 KM | ||
| Make a slight left onto Daarleseweg | 245 M | ||
| Turn right onto Dalvoordeweg | 168 M | ||
| Make a slight left to stay on Dalvoordeweg | 464 M | ||
| Keep right onto Greftendijk | 349 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Greftendijk | 298 M | ||
| Turn left onto Esweg | 425 M | ||
| You are now at section 35 | 0 M | ||
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From
35
to
32
|
1999 M | 2 KM | |
| Head northeast on Wuustemoat | 905 M | ||
| Turn right onto Zwolsekanaal | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 32 | 0 M | ||
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From
32
to
36
|
1289 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head east on Separatiepunt | 220 M | ||
| Turn left onto Vierzonenweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 36 | 0 M | ||
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From
36
to
37
|
747 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Spoorstraat | 46 M | ||
| Turn right onto Brugstraat (N750) | 701 M | ||
| You are now at section 37 | 0 M | ||
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From
37
to
33
|
3394 M | 3.4 KM | |
| Head northeast on Nonkeswijk | 3.4 KM | ||
| You are now at section 33 | 0 M | ||
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From
33
to
3
|
2373 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head north on Hoofdweg | 26 M | ||
| Turn right onto Sluiskade NZ | 2.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 3 | 0 M | ||
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From
3
to
71
|
2676 M | 2.7 KM | |
| Head north on Paterswal | 27 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Paterswal | 2.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 71 | 0 M | ||
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From
71
to
68
|
5597 M | 5.6 KM | |
| Head northwest on Paterswal | 57 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kloosterstraat | 21 M | ||
| Turn right onto Kloosterdijk | 383 M | ||
| Turn right onto Schoolstraat | 5 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kloosterdijk | 799 M | ||
| Turn right onto Akkerweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Boerendijk | 3.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 68 | 0 M | ||
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From
68
to
47
|
439 M | 0.4 KM | |
| Head northeast on Kanaalweg-Oost | 386 M | ||
| Turn left onto Eerste Elsweg | 53 M | ||
| You are now at section 47 | 0 M | ||
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From
47
to
67
|
2755 M | 2.8 KM | |
| Head southwest on Kanaalweg-West | 978 M | ||
| Turn right onto Tweede Elsweg | 547 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Tweede Elsweg | 453 M | ||
| Turn left | 125 M | ||
| Turn left onto De Marke | 92 M | ||
| Turn left onto Stationsweg | 560 M | ||
| You are now at section 67 | 0 M | ||
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From
67
to
55
|
5036 M | 5 KM | |
| Head southeast on Kloosterdijk | 549 M | ||
| Turn right onto Beerzerhaar | 30 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Beerzerhaar | 1.6 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Zwarteweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Beerzerweg | 1.7 KM | ||
| You are now at section 55 | 0 M | ||
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From
55
to
29
|
2019 M | 2 KM | |
| Head south on Beerzerpoort | 2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Beerzerhaar | 6 M | ||
| You are now at section 29 | 0 M | ||
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From
29
to
88
|
4318 M | 4.3 KM | |
| Head west on Beerzerhaar | 2 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Nieuwe Hammerweg | 197 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Junnerbaan | 2.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 88 | 0 M | ||
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From
88
to
89
|
1170 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head southeast on Dennenweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 89 | 0 M | ||
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From
89
to
5
|
1579 M | 1.6 KM | |
| Head east on Achterbroekweg | 1.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 5 | 0 M | ||
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From
5
to
18
|
2367 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head southwest on Janmansweg | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Janmansweg | 960 M | ||
| You are now at section 18 | 0 M | ||
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From
18
to
80
|
2886 M | 2.9 KM | |
| Head northwest on Marsweg | 413 M | ||
| Turn left | 2.4 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Grefeldijk | 29 M | ||
| You are now at section 80 | 0 M | ||
|
From
80
to
85
|
2158 M | 2.2 KM | |
| Head south | 2.1 KM | ||
| Continue onto Zuidelijke Kanaaldijk | 30 M | ||
| You are now at section 85 | 0 M | ||
|
From
85
to
85
|
675 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Zuidelijke Kanaaldijk | 54 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 381 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hancateweg-Oost | 38 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Hancateweg-Oost | 202 M | ||
| You are now at section 85 | 0 M |