It started in a car to Hoogeveen

In the late 1970s, Jan was still studying Chemical Engineering. At the time, computers were anything but commonplace. Nevertheless, he became fascinated by the possibilities offered by the first home computers.

With his TRS-80, he regularly attended a computer users’ club in Hoogeveen. There, he met Wieger Kuijer of Kuijer Computersystemen and an employee of the Animal Health Service, among others. During one of those car journeys, an idea emerged that would eventually become the foundation of UNIFORM-Agri.

At the time, dairy farmers kept cow data in card-index systems. The question was simple: couldn’t this be done digitally? “That’s really where it all started,” Jan explains. He wrote one of the first programs that made it possible to digitally record and search the information previously stored on cards. What began as a solution for embryo transplantation gradually developed into a complete management system for dairy farmers.

The TRS-80, one of the first computers Jan used to develop his software.

From student to software developer

Although Jan was officially studying Chemical Engineering, during an internship in the Rotterdam industrial sector he quickly realised that his future lay elsewhere. “Once I got involved with computers, that was basically it.” He developed software in the evenings while studying during the day. Eventually, his passion for automation won out over chemistry. Together with Wieger Kuijer, he worked on several software packages. These were not only for dairy farming, but also for fruit growing, potato farming, accounting and even podiatrists. The dairy farming package was named Vekusoft. The name originally stood for Venema-Kuijer Software, although it was later given a more commercially suitable meaning.

Starting above a garage

Like so many successful technology companies, this story also began in an unexpected place: above a garage in Ter Aard. With just a few desks in the attic, software was developed to help dairy farmers manage their businesses. No one could have imagined at the time that they were laying the foundations for a company that, forty years later, would be active in dozens of countries. “We really were above a garage.” Several moves within Assen followed as the company gradually grew.

From copying floppy disks to international software

When the company went through a difficult period in the late 1980s, the decision was made to focus entirely on dairy farming. Under the leadership of Harm-Jan van der Beek, a new direction was set. For Jan, less changed. He continued doing what he had always done: making sure everything worked. And that meant literally everything. He installed computers at customers’ farms, built connections with feed computers, took care of hardware, helped with administration and sent software updates to users. “I think I’ve done almost every job within UNIFORM-Agri.” At the time, software updates were still sent out on floppy disks. Together with colleagues, Jan copied hundreds of disks, which were then mailed to customers. Later, floppy disks were replaced by CDs, then DVDs and eventually online updates.

One of the pioneers of digital data exchange

One important development in which Jan was closely involved was the digitalisation of data exchange within the dairy industry. He helped develop UNINET, a system that enabled dairy farmers to send data to organisations such as CRV and other industry partners. What seems completely normal today was revolutionary at the time. Data was transmitted to central systems via modems and telephone lines. At Noordstaete, entire rows of computers with modems were set up to process all the messages. “Now, one small system can handle it. Back then, we needed twelve computers.”

From cows to bison

Over the years, Jan visited a number of dairy farms. Although he does not come from an agricultural background himself, he got to know the industry up close. Sometimes this led to unusual situations. During one of the first integrations with a feed computer, he stood among the cows to check whether the system was working. To his surprise, the animals came running enthusiastically towards him. “Back then, I found cows quite intimidating.” A few years later, he even worked on a project involving bison in the United States. There, he discovered that a herd of bison commands just a little more respect than a group of dairy cows.

Still building the future

Forty years after developing those first programs, Jan is still active within UNIFORM-Agri. Today, as ICT Manager, he focuses on infrastructure, updates, system stability and the continued development of the cloud environment. And once again, technology is moving forward. Where Jan once spent his time copying floppy disks, today he is looking at AI, cloud platforms and new development methods. Yet there is one thing that has barely changed over all those years: his commitment to the company. From an attic above a garage to an international software organisation, Jan has experienced it all. Usually out of the spotlight, but always closely involved. Perhaps that is exactly why his story fits so perfectly into 40 years of UNIFORM-Agri.