Duteweerd is currently the vice president of the Nederlandse Vakbond Varkenshouders(Dutch union for pig farmers, NVV) and treasurer of the Producenten Organisatie Varkenshouderij (producers organization ofpig farmers, POV). He will step down from these functions as of 1 January to be able to fully concentrate on his new job. Theo Duteweerd is following up on Han Swinkels that was interim manager of VIC Sterksel over the past year and a half.
Duteweerd is also owner of pig farm De Strenkhaar in the Overijsselse Lemelerveld. For Duteweerd an innovation centre in Sterksel is waiting that has been under pressure financially for some time now. An important task of the new manager is to build a more stable future throughmore intensive cooperation in the sector, both on terms of innovation and finance.
Annie de Veer, director of Wageningen UR Livestock Research of which Sterksel if part of, welcomes the arrival of Theo Duteweerd. ‘He is among pig farmers and has shown to have a good eye for innovation and we believe that he is able to take innovative steps with the sector. The sector has been experiencing difficult times and has been asking pig owners for a lot of capacity to change. We think that VIC Sterksel can play an important role in this process.’