Honey and fodder hedges at Annelies & Pieter’s

A long-term partnership

(Re)Welcome to Flanders and more specifically to Lokeren, at Annelies and Pieter’s.

As a reminder, in 2008, the couple took over the family farm, passed down from Pieter’s father. On their farm, they raise nearly seventy Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle. Everything happens as naturally as possible and, as much as possible, without human intervention. The bull does its job and the cows calve naturally.
The farm has been fully organic since 2016, meaning they use neither fertilizers nor pesticides on their 15 hectares of pasture.

The farm’s highlight: a short-circuit farm butchery, “De Vierklaver”:
The cows stay on the farm for 6 to 10 years. This ensures very flavorful meat. Their diet is based solely on grass and clover as fodder (while waiting for the hedge).

In 2024, PlantC supported Annelies and Pieter in setting up fodder hedges on their farm in Lokeren.
A project designed to strengthen biodiversity, protect crops, and structure the agricultural landscape. Two years later, we are doing it again.

This new phase is part of a logical continuity: consolidating existing developments, strengthening the ecological network, and continuing the transition toward more resilient agriculture.

Taking care of nature and the soil—the true foundation—these are our best allies. Thus, their cows can graze outside for almost an entire year.

Annelies and Pieter’s guiding principle

A two-part project to combine utility and biodiversity

844 meters of hedgerows divided into two distinct lines. Here, the planting combines:

• Biodiversity, with particular attention to nectar-producing species and birds.
• Fodder supplement for livestock.
• Surface water management.
• And the strengthening of ecological and landscape continuity.

Project No. 1 (566 m): A windbreak and anti-drift hedge to protect the pasture from an adjacent orchard, while creating a nectar-producing ecological corridor. This double-row hedge incorporates standard trees (wild apple, lime) to structure the landscape in the long term. The choice of species favors staggered flowering periods, ensuring a continuous food resource for pollinators.

Project No. 2 (278 m): A hedge 100% dedicated to biodiversity. Here, the focus is on berry-bearing species (elderberry, viburnum) and shelter shrubs for birds. The line runs along a meadow area and a ditch, requiring the integration of watercourse maintenance rules.

Site conditions

Soil observations carried out on-site confirmed the presence of deep sandy-loam soils, well-drained and without major compaction: favorable conditions for the development of a diversified and sustainable hedge.

During our visit in 2025, we were able to observe roe deer; guards are planned for the standard trees, as well as a repellent spray.

2026 Season: Strengthening the ecological impact

For this new phase, the objective is clear: to densify the ecological network around the farm!

10 species make up the lines. Standard trees (wild apple and small-leaved lime) punctuate the lines to diversify the layers, improve the landscape structure, and strengthen the long-term ecological interest.

Planting is carried out in double rows, with appropriate protection against game and mulching to ensure good establishment.

This project illustrates a strong conviction at PlantC: biodiversity is not thought of as a one-off action, but as a trajectory.

By returning to the site in 2026, we confirm that the ecological transition of farms takes place over the long term, through successive, coherent steps adapted to the terrain.