Circle
farming

Floris Schoonderbeek

Circle Farming is developing an agricultural method with circular fields that combine efficiency and sustainability. Working in circles creates spaces for nature, recreation, and biodiversity. Instead of a tractor, a robot arm rotates slowly, while people – from the city – work on the crops from special beds, assisted by AI.

Over half of the Dutch landscape is used for agriculture. Since World War II, our food production has become so efficient that as much as 60% is used for export. However, the side effects, such as nitrogen emissions and soil depletion, are borne locally. Regenerative agriculture offers a more sustainable alternative but often remains small-scale.

We talk to designer Floris Schoonderbeek about connecting the city and countryside, his ambition to bridge efficient agriculture and nature restoration, and the significance of natural forms for our well-being.

Text: Lonneke Craemers, Photography: Blickfänger

Hi Floris, congratulations on your Secrid Talent Podium spot! Tell us about your background. Are you a country boy?

I grew up in a family of builders in Hoevelaken, between the city and countryside. My father was a project developer, so I grew up believing you can create something and shape your environment.

We were encouraged to do that at home too. For example, once we built a submarine in our backyard with the neighborhood kids, using old building materials. It was a one-to-one, full-scale Panamarenko-style contraption.

My time tinkering with mopeds gave me an analytical understanding of technology. I learned how and why something works. As a result, my designs are almost never sketches, but rather interacting systems.

How did you become involved in agricultural innovation?

I studied product design at ArtEZ in Arnhem. I’m fascinated by the cultural difference between the city and countryside. Our lives were very oriented towards the city, but we came from the village. In the village, we were the urban snobs; in the city, we were the country bumpkins.

I enjoyed playing with that. For example, during that time, I built many chicken coops. A chicken is truly the best pet for the city, because when you give it something, you get something back – unlike a meat-eating cat. These things influenced my subject choices.

In 2002, I graduated as an “urban farmer.” It wasn’t about growing carrots in the city, but about combining the strengths and qualities of both cultures. I believe the city and countryside can positively influence each other.

You became an urban farmer. What are the characteristics of the city and countryside?

The city excels at creating culture and communication and has a lot of untapped individual knowledge.

The countryside holds an entirely different kind of wisdom. There’s more community spirit and farmers are much more aware of their environment. They know their influence on it and how to use it to make money. “Farmers’ wisdom” and “good farming” both stem from this logic.

With my designs, I aim to solve urban needs using farmers’ simple common sense, while raising awareness of social challenges in rural areas.

I want to restore the word “industry” to its former beauty.

Can you provide examples of products you’ve made using farmers’ simple common sense?

It’s always about behavioural change. The solution often combines effective old techniques with smart technology and new values like local and sustainable.

One example is the Raintap, which demonstrates the value of rainwater and the need for sustainable solutions to address climate change. It’s essentially a small sink on a rain barrel, designed to encourage storage and especially use of rainwater.

My designs usually incorporate an experiential quality. I believe new products should not only be technologically or functionally better but also enhance quality of life or create a more positive experience. Otherwise, people won’t change.

You want to initiate a change in behaviour. What prompted Circle Farming?

Two and a half years ago, during the farmers’ protests in The Netherlands, I was preoccupied with this. I felt hurt, disappointed, and frustrated. I remember a photo at an Albert Heijn distribution centre – a large grocery chain: shopping carts on one side and tractors on the other – the city and countryside presented in sharp contrast. Farming is such a beautiful and necessary profession. How could it have come to this?

I aim to bridge that seeming contradiction. City residents often don’t understand the impact of their behaviour and what it takes to meet their needs. By contrast, farmers seem to have been swept along into a direction they can no longer escape from. Farming and our landscape have been industrialized.

In 2022, Dutch Design Foundation and Sweco organized a “What-if Lab” on food, where I started to research food chains. I asked myself, “What do we eat? Where does our food come from? How is it grown? And what are the effects?”

Farming and our landscape have been industrialized. What did your research reveal?

A few things. Our current situation really emerged after World War II. At the time, people put their foot down and said: “No more hunger!” After that, we invested heavily in ensuring food self-sufficiency. A lot of hard work went into growing huge quantities of food.

At root, the Netherlands is really not an agricultural country. We’re more of a trading nation. But we got so good at selling potatoes and meat that we thought: “We need more!” So, we also started to excel at producing them. Today, we’re a large-scale global exporter.

Our agricultural efficiency isn’t necessarily in arable farming, but in the surrounding businesses, technology, financing, and logistics. Consequently, a lot of our landscape is used for products sold elsewhere, while the disadvantages, like nitrogen waste, are borne locally.

The Netherlands is a major global agricultural exporter. What’s the issue with our agricultural efficiency?

“Good” agriculture has become an industrial process that is causing the Netherlands’ current nitrogen and soil depletion issues.

After the harvest, we essentially chop up and kill off everything. But a potato needs sun and nutrients to grow. If the soil is dead, the nutrients must come from somewhere else. That’s why we use all kinds of nutrient additives. And anything that isn’t a potato has to die. We spray it to death.

When looking at animals, we remove the meat, but everything else remains. Most of the shit – quite literally – isn’t taxed or factored into the cost price.

What does good agriculture mean to you?

Regenerative agriculture, which is based on biodiversity instead of monoculture, is an amazing alternative that benefits us all. Imagine a range of crops instead of just potatoes or a barn full of animals.

Regenerative agriculture aims to leave the soil undisturbed and improve its quality naturally. More life means more nutrition and less need for additives.

However, until now, regenerative methods have remained stuck in romanticism. I feel the urgent need to improve and make them more accessible.

How do you want to advance regenerative agriculture beyond the romantic phase?

Ultimately, it’s about industrialization. You need to scale up to have an impact. But “industry” has become a dirty word. I’d love to restore it to its former beauty.

I’m also convinced people play a crucial role in new agriculture. A growing demographic wants to know where their food comes from. Circle Farming is based on that choice. It seeks to make people’s role in food production matter again.

We designed a method using circular fields that combines human labour, existing tools, and modern technologies. Instead of a tractor, we use a robotic arm for agricultural tools. The arm is fixed in the centre, and the outer part moves in circles. This allows different crops to grow together.

Imagine being a bee flying towards a straight field, you’d be terrified.

What are the advantages of circular fields?

If you value people in agriculture and want to attract individuals of all levels, you need to create beautiful environments. Organically shaped fields contribute to that.

Interestingly, within such a circle, we’re exceptionally efficient because we don’t need tractor tracks. We can grow as much in that circle as in a square but gain the in-between spaces. Those spaces allow air circulation for nature. Flowers can grow and animals can roam in them. And people can relax – maybe even live – in them.

In these circles, we use “strip farming” and “precision farming.” Each circle is a strip: we plant one crop in one and a different crop in the next, resulting in a lot of mixed crops. From above, you see an ultra-tight grid. This can be worked to the nearest inch, and we can work it accurately with a garden hoe. At eye level, however, you see wild nature.

We think bees and insects experience it similarly. An ecologist once told me: “Imagine being a bee flying towards a straight field. It would feel like a wall, a desert to cross. You’d be terrified, so you wouldn’t do it.” The circular structures allow them to buzz around freely.

Can you explain how you use existing tools and new technology?

We can attach existing tractor tools to the arm and pull them around. For example, for potatoes, you need a potato ridge. With a few round discs, we create a mound over the potatoes to support their growth.

We embrace new technology. Sensors on the arm monitor fields, detecting discoloration that might indicate a lack of water or the onset of disease. Using AI, we analyse the data and provide targeted advice. We’re also building knowledge.

How do you make people significant in the process again?

Modern agricultural practices have developed technology to make people redundant, distancing them from the land. We try to use it to bring people closer to nature, the soil, and food.

This is why we’ve added work beds to the robot arm that allow you to lie close to the crops and soil. They’re comfortable to lie in, more efficient than bending over, and more ergonomic.

We want to respond to the fact that many office workers are starting to feel they have a bullshit job. In response, they may choose to spend a day doing other work, like working on the land. But they often lack the knowledge to work independently.

We’re building a platform to use the collected data to show what work needs to be done on the land. People can look in the system for instructions: “Today I’m going to the field, circle 2, lane 3. What should I do?”

What’s the status of the development process? Are there any Circle Farms yet?

Yes, we now have a 2.0 version. There’s one in Giesbeek at Soil Valley, a campus with companies working on soil enrichment. It’s linked to Royal Eikelkamp, which manufactures sensors for mining, among other things. We’re affiliated with them to use these sensors for our soil measurements.

We also have Vaderland, a gastronomic estate in Nuenen, near Eindhoven. They have a farm and a restaurant, making them a good test customer. They really need to earn their money with our solution.

This year, our technology needs to prove itself in these locations and develop further. Next year, we want to offer a package to more farmers. They’re still pilot farmers, so we won’t start selling installations just yet. It will be more of a lease arrangement.

By choosing a new form, we can restore natural qualities as guiding principles.

Next year, you want to scale up to more pilot farmers. For whom is Circle Farming a viable solution?

We notice that regenerative farmers are often still excited by our technology. They choose regenerative farming because they want to feel the earth, and in their view, modern technology doesn’t align with that. Communication and positioning are crucial for us right now. How can we clearly be one of them while introducing innovations?

Our customers are mainly smaller farms near cities engaged in Community Supported Agriculture. These farms often find themselves too dependent on volunteers and want to scale up. We will also target care farms next year, as there’s a need there to make workers feel better and more valued.

What’s your biggest challenge at the moment?

First, we must prove our arm and tools work. Then more farmers will join us.

I’m looking to build a community. I come from an ego-driven world: a designer designs something, adds a photo with a quote, and collects royalties. But this must be done together. How do we ensure the ecologist and IT specialist do this from their own practice? How do we get people to work on this out of genuine motivation?

I’m also looking for a project manager. I’m attending various farmer and organization conferences to find talent. Many candidates with agricultural knowledge are used to larger, clearly structured organizations. We’re a pioneering startup, so we might need someone without agriculture experience, but with an entrepreneurial mindset for this growth phase.

What’s the future of Circle Farming in ten years?

By then, we’ll have an international community of Circle Farmers on three continents. I hope it will be a functional and productive method situated alongside cities. A healthy mix of food and landscape, with active city involvement, supported by a beautiful digital platform for knowledge sharing.

There shouldn’t be just one method, there are probably many. But you can choose Circle Farming as an agricultural method that allows room for other things. It could also be a straightforward way to begin working together in communities, cities, and schools.

Finally, what is the most important message you want to share?

I’m focused on landscape transformation. Agriculture dominates our landscape. By choosing a new form, literarily and metaphorically, we can restore natural qualities as guiding principles. I’m not saying everything should become nature, but there are agricultural methods we can use to create landscapes that both produce food and support nature.

Interestingly, I had long forgotten that I was raised Catholic, but recently the memory has returned. I’ve often felt how nice it would be to spend Sundays in a beautiful place, sharing stories and ideas with like-minded people. A space to broaden our view, deepen awareness of ourselves and each other, and reconnect with nature. That’s the spirit in which I’d like to invite everyone to join Circle Farming.

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