40 years in 40 stories: Henk Brugman
From floppy disks to fibre optics: 35 years with UNIFORM
When Henk Brugman went into partnership with his parents in 1991, the world looked very different. Farm records were kept on paper, cow information was tracked using magnets on a wall calendar, and computers were still far from a common sight on dairy farms.
Thirty-five years later, Henk and Ingrid Brugman remain at the heart of the dairy farm, with daughters Romy and Silke and son Twan also playing an active role in the business. During that same period, UNIFORM has evolved from a pioneering management system into a trusted part of the farm’s daily operation.
From Argos to UNIFORM
Henk’s first experience with farm management software came in the early 1990s. After exploring several options, he eventually chose Argos, one of the predecessors of today’s UNIFORM.
The Brugman family: Ingrid, Romy, Silke and Henk Brugman at the dairy farm where UNIFORM has been used for the past 35 years.
A young Henk Brugman with his father in the old milking parlour.
He still remembers the installation vividly. A lecturer from the agricultural college arrived with a stack of floppy disks to install the software.
“After about fifteen or twenty minutes, my parents said, ‘You can handle this yourself, we’re not getting involved.’ So, I got stuck in. In the end, I took care of the accounting, the livestock records and pretty much all of the farm administration.”
Over the years, not only did the farm grow, but the technology evolved as well. Floppy disks were replaced by CDs, and while software updates once arrived by post, today almost everything happens online.
Grow alongside the farm
The Brugman family’s dairy farm has a long history of development. The first free-stall barn was built in 1972, followed by a 2×6 herringbone milking parlour in 1979. Another barn was added in 1993, and in 1996 the milking parlour was completely renovated, including the introduction of milk metering. At the time, the free-stall barn attracted a great deal of attention in the local area. “People from the village came to have a look. They all still had tie-stall barns and simply couldn’t imagine cows being so comfortable in a free-stall system.”
The milking parlour built in 1996 is still in use today. When the time came to invest, Henk chose a fully equipped setup. “Back then, we wanted a milking parlour with milk metering, all the bells and whistles.”
Henk Brugman’s parents in the milking parlour that is still in use today, built in 1996.
Daughter Romy is now helping with the farm’s administration.
The parlour played an important role not only in the day-to-day running of the farm, but also in family life. The children quite literally grew up around it. For years, the farm was their playground, and they even learned to ride their bikes in the pit beneath the milking parlour.
Trust as a foundation
What Henk appreciates most about UNIFORM-Agri is the personal support he has experienced throughout the years. One name that keeps coming up is Hans Mullink, who was UNIFORM’s representative for many years.
“If something came up, I could always give him a call. And if there was a problem I really couldn’t solve, he’d stop by in the evening on his way home.”
That personal approach laid the foundation for a relationship that has lasted for decades. Its value became clear again recently when a technical issue with an older link between the feeding system and CRV prevented data from being exchanged correctly. Together with UNIFORM’s technical specialists, a solution was developed, tested and eventually made available to other users facing the same issue.
For Henk, it was another reminder of why he has remained a UNIFORM user for so many years. “Those are the things that build trust.”
From floppy disks to fibre optics
Over the more than three decades that Henk has been working with the software, technology has changed beyond recognition. What started with a stack of floppy disks and software updates arriving by post has become a world where almost everything happens online. The arrival of fibre-optic internet marked a major step forward. “We went from 4 or 5 Mbps to 450 Mbps. And now we’re at 600.”
Not everything has changed, though. Some systems on the farm have been running for decades and are still part of the daily operation. The feeding system, for example, is still going strong.
That blend of proven technology and continuous innovation has been a recurring theme throughout Henk Brugman’s story and his long-standing relationship with UNIFORM. After all these years, his conclusion is refreshingly straightforward: “If it’s working well, why change it?”
