Harry Vriens all-round animal keeper for AB Werkt for 25 years

Anyone who walks into Harry Vriens’ yard in Bakel will soon find out what Harry’s great passion is. ‘Pigs,’ he says laughing, pointing to his collection of pig figurines in all kinds of sizes and designs. On 6 January, Harry had been with AB Werkt for 25 years as an all-round animal keeper. But even before those 25 years, taking care of pigs was a constant throughout his life. ‘Looking after these animals is second nature to me.’

Harry Vriens grew up in a farming family with 12 children. ‘My father had a farm with cows and pigs,’ Harry begins. ‘That was right here where I live now.’ After training as a carpenter at the Junior Technical School, Harry started working at the age of 16. First in construction. Harry: ‘At one point I was working for a contractor building stables. That’s how I started visiting farms a lot again. My interest grew. In 1981, I took over my father’s pig farm and in the following years expanded it to a farm with 150 sows and 600 fattening pigs.’  

Dual job

Due to increasingly stringent laws and regulations, Harry started to find it increasingly difficult to continue his pig farm. As a result, he sold it in 1993. But Harry does not like to sit still. Two years later, in 1995, he was already working on a pig farm in Deurne. ‘I replaced the owner there who had unfortunately passed away. Actually, I was already a farm manager then, just not through AB Werkt yet. That only came two years later. On 6 January 1997, I first started working for what was then AB Werkt Southeast Brabant in a dual job. I worked for one pig farm in the morning and another in the afternoon.’

Assistant farm manager

He has held the title all-round animal keeper, a fancy word according to Harry, since 2003. Harry: ‘As an all-round animal keeper, I work alongside the farmer. Together, we try to run the pig farm as efficiently as possible. I bring a lot of experience and always see opportunities for improvement at the farms I visit.’ Harry laughs: ‘Not everyone is open to change, but sometimes I adjust something anyway. Then, when the farmer suddenly sees the growth results of the pigs improve, he is quite happy about it.’

Comeback

In 2018, Harry suffered a stroke. Fortunately, with all the help he received, he recovered, except that full-time work was no longer an option. Harry: ‘Since 2020, I have therefore been working through AB Werkt Detachment. I still work as an all-round animal keeper, but only for about 15 hours a week and at a slower pace. When I fell ill, I didn’t think I would make it to my 25-year work anniversary. But I did. My plan is to quit in this anniversary year. Just for fun, I keep track of how many days and hours I have left until 31 December.’ At the time of this interview, Harry still had another 690 hours of work to go.

Passion

‘I think AB Werkt manages things well,’ Harry continues. ‘When I worked for AB Werkt Bedrijfsverzorging, I had a lot of contact with fellow farm managers. We regularly exchanged experiences with each other, which was very nice. I still love working in this sector and I wouldn’t want any other job. I personally did not grow up with computers and automation in pig farming. In that respect, I’ve learnt a lot over the past few years. I like the fact that AB Werkt gives me the opportunity to continue working in this great job until my retirement. It can be physically demanding at times, but it is and always will be my passion. Or rather, an out-of-control hobby.’