1. Veldleeuwerik (Skylark) • Who are we? • What is Veldleeuwerik (Skylark) • Where are we now?

2. The Skylark farmers • Aard Robaard & Adrie Vermeulen, two out of 50 growers • Located in Flevoland (NL) • Aim: to connect with food processors and jointly develop a supply chain for sustainably grown produce. • Processors are Heineken (barley), SuikerUnie (sugarbeet), Gebr.Van Liere (onion), McCain (potato), Unilever (carrot, onion); Agrarische Unie (input provider, extension, collectioner) : ‘Friends of the rotation’ • Project started in 2002

3. What are the key items? • Societal responsibility awareness • Active support from processors, food companies, input providers, external advisors • Search for ways of making our farms sustainable: the ‘learning curve’, use of measurement tools, sustainable action plans • A joint search with individual action plans in place • Organisation: board, working group, regional groups, crop and indicator groups • Credibility verification: self assessment, group assessment and action plan result review by a ‘Forum’: research institutes (CLM, LBI, WUR) and NGO’s (SNM)

4. What have we achieved? • Well….it is on its way • We see advantages for our own farm operations and have implemented these: Skylark worked out very well for us in this respect • The food industry have set out their vision, but we would like to see some more substantial activities to really build sustainable supply chains (barley is coming, hopefully!). Extension of Skylark is inevitable. • The Skylark sustainability system is robust and acknowledged. We are not waiting for another set of extensive assessment paperwork (Globalgap etc.), but want to see what we will get in return now.