Ellen Kok

Photographer and Writer

netherlight.org

The Final Days of a Dairy Farm

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Location: New Hampshire, USA

Nationality: Netherlands

Biography: Ellen Kok is a photographer and writer from the Netherlands, who combines photo essays with written stories. She builds long-lasting relationships with her subjects, often following them for years. Her photography is based on trust and intimacy.... MORE

The black-white headed cattle o...he Netherlands. March 16, 2000.

The black-white headed cattle of Dutch Veldzicht Farm in the cowshed. On the beams farmer Cees Molenaar has written with white chalk the dates the cows have calved or that they are barren.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 16, 2000.

Cees Molenaar milks his black-w...The Netherlands. March 6, 2000.

Cees Molenaar milks his black-white headed cows in the cowshed, as he has done for many years.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 6, 2000.

Farmer Cees mucks out the cowsh...he Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Farmer Cees mucks out the cowshed; most of the work on the farm is heavy manual labor.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Cees mucks out the cowshed. He ...he Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Cees mucks out the cowshed. He moves the solid manure to the muckheap behind the farm.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Cees mucks out the cowshed. Kam...he Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Cees mucks out the cowshed.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

The cow fodder is almost gone. ...he Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

The cow fodder is almost gone. The farmer has to climb into the silo to scoop corn pulp into a wheelbarrow.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 17, 2000.

Very early in the day the black...he Netherlands. March 20, 2000.

Very early in the day the black-white headed cows eat hay in the cowshed. An iron chain keeps them in their usual spot. Their breaths cloud in the morning cold.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 20, 2000.

Husband and wife move with two ...he Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

Husband and wife move with two pitchforks a large tuft of hay from the haystack to the cowshed. Cees learned the method from his father.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

In the cowshed farmer Gre Molen...he Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

In the cowshed farmer Gre Molenaar sweeps the hay together for the cows. An iron chain keeps them in their usual spot.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

Before the cows go to other far...he Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

Before the cows go to other farms or the slaughterhouse, another calf is born. The farmer enjoys feeding it bottled milk. Two days later the livestock dealer takes it along in the trunk of his car.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 22, 2000.

The morning after farmer Cees M...he Netherlands. March 31, 2000.

The morning after farmer Cees Molenaar has milked his cows for the last time, he eats the usual stack of sandwiches for breakfast and drinks coffee sitting in the farm’s kitchen at an old school desk with daughter Adriette, who has just washed her hair. The towel with which she dried it is still draped over her left shoulder.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 31, 2000.

The cows on Veldzicht Farm stil...he Netherlands. March 31, 2000.

The cows on Veldzicht Farm still have horns. One of them, which has been sold to another farmer, has a horn that has grown so much that it threatens to touch her eye. Before the animal leaves their farm, Gre saws the tip of the horn off with a rope saw, while Cees restrains the cow.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 31, 2000.

The livestock dealer picks up t...he Netherlands. March 25, 2000.

The livestock dealer picks up the first three black-white headed cows with his cattle trailer, while farmer Molenaar and his daughter Adriette watch.
Kamerik, The Netherlands. March 25, 2000.

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The Final Days of a Dairy Farm

Copyright Ellen Kok 2024

Date of Work Mar 2000 - Mar 2000

Updated Jan 2024

Location Kamerik, The Netherlands

Topics Spotlight

Dutch dairy farmers Cees and Gre Molenaar have sold their cows and land to retire. They do not have a successor.

In the weeks before the day the shutdown of their Veldzicht (Field View) farm becomes final, and the cows will have been picked up by the cattle dealer or their new owner, Cees and his wife Gre go about their work as they used to do for decades, collaborating in smooth tandem.