Work with us
We have 8 seasonal roles open across Gelderland, Friesland and Overijssel — 30 places in all — from the spring calving block through the grazing season and silage harvest to winter housing. Most of them are open to applicants from outside the EU, with the seasonal work permit sponsored and filed by us.
Milking starts at 05:15 and there is no version of this work where it does not. Cows are milked on Christmas Day and in the middle of a storm. If that sounds like a dealbreaker, it genuinely is one, and we would rather you knew now.
What we can promise is that the early start ends at a sensible hour, that your days off are your days off, and that you will not be the only person on a yard trying to hold eleven jobs together. Teams are three to six people per farm with a herd manager who is on the yard, not in an office in another province.
Plenty of our staff came in with no farming background — from horticulture, from a machine shop, from school. What we cannot teach is patience with animals and turning up when you said you would. Everything else we will train.
Shifts are published a month ahead. One weekend in three for permanent farm staff, and relief milkers exist so that promise is kept rather than quietly broken in August.
Grazing season runs April to October and you are out in it. Nobody at De Hoeves spends their whole day under a shed roof or in front of a screen.
Hoof trimming, AI certification, telehandler and forklift tickets, calf rearing courses — booked and paid by us, on work time, not on your Saturday.
No shouting, no sticks, no cutting corners on bedding because it is late. If you have ever left a job because you could not stand how the stock were handled, you will recognise the difference here.
A full-time maintenance technician and a planned service schedule, so you are not fighting a broken pulsator at half five in the morning with nobody coming to help.
Dutch agricultural CAO pay, pension, 25 days holiday, travel between yards paid, and call-out pay for anyone on the on-call rota. Housing help for the right candidate in Friesland.
Filter by department or hours. Every role shows its season, how many places are on the crew and its right-to-work position, and links to the full description and an email application — no accounts, no forms, no portals.
Showing 8 of 8 open roles — 30 places on the crew.
Lunteren, GelderlandFull-timeSpring block calving — February to April5 places on the crew
A ten-week contract through the spring calving block at Hoeve Lunteren, where around 260 Holstein cows calve inside nine weeks. You are in the straw yard with the herd manager on the busiest nights of our year.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Bolsward, FrieslandFull-timeSpring calf run — February to June4 places on the crew
Five months looking after every calf born in the Friesland spring block, from the first feed to weaning at around 70 days. One person, one group of calves, start to finish.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Dalfsen, OverijsselFull-timeGrazing season — April to October4 places on the crew
Seven months outdoors on our Overijssel grassland, running the rotational grazing block that keeps our cows at grass an average of 182 days a year.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Bolsward, FrieslandFull-timeGrazing season — April to October5 places on the crew
A full grazing-season contract milking twice a day in our 2x12 swingover parlour in Friesland, covering the months when the herd is out and the permanent team is spread across grazing and silage work.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Lunteren, GelderlandFull-timeSilage and maize harvest — May to September3 places on the crew
Five months on the harvest run: four grass cuts from May, then maize in September, across all eleven farms. Long days when the weather window opens, proper days off when it closes.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Bolsward, FrieslandFull-timeWinter housing — November to March4 places on the crew
A five-month winter contract for the months the herd is inside. Bedding, feeding and scraping across two Friesland barns, so cows come out of winter in the condition they went in.
Open to non-EU nationals — we sponsor the seasonal work permit
Dalfsen, OverijsselPart-timeSummer holiday cover — June to August3 places on the crew
Part-time cover across our three Overijssel yards through the summer holiday months, so the permanent teams actually take the leave they booked. Fixed shifts agreed a month ahead.
EU/EEA right to work required
Lunteren, GelderlandPart-timeCut weeks and maize harvest — May to September2 places on the crew
Called in for the cut weeks only — a few intense days each time the grass is ready, plus the maize week in September. Ideal alongside study or another local job.
EU/EEA right to work required
We keep it short because good farm staff do not stay on the market long.
Use the Apply button on a role. A CV is welcome but a short honest email about what you have done with livestock is worth more.
Fifteen minutes with the farm manager for that yard — a video call, arranged by email — not a recruiter reading a script.
Come for a milking and a herd walk. You see how we work, we see how you are around animals. Paid at the hourly rate for the role.
A written offer within three working days of the farm morning. Start dates are flexible around notice periods and the calving block.
Questions before you apply? Email werken@dehoeves.eu and the Lunteren office will come back to you within three working days.
