'Take the farmers seriously. They still have time to think. The grain grows slowly.' A lesson we still take to heart. In Dutch Life in Town and Country (1902), among others, we read how foreigners at the time were already amazed about Dutch peasant life: 'The Dutch farmer is generally prosperous and independent. The Dutch farmer's wife has distinct views of her own.' And about the Dutch landscape: 'The fields are all parallelograms; the angles are all right angles; trees grow exactly where they should, trimmed to strange shapes; no weeds show their head where they are not wanted.'

Farmers and successful investors are also remarkably enthusiastic and usually have a lot of energy

According to Central Bureau for Statistics Netherlands, 18 percent of farmers in the Netherlands are still millionaires. In comparison, this is only 2 percent of the entire Dutch working population. The disposable income of farmers in the Netherlands is also well above average. One explanation for this success could be that farmers are forced to look far into the future. Sometimes across generations. Successful investors do that too. These two professions do have more in common. Our subjective perception is that they are both professionals who decide for themselves what to do and when and in what manner to do it.

Farmers and successful investors are also remarkably enthusiastic and generally have a lot of energy. They feel vital and find the content of their work interesting. Routine or boredom do not strike easily. Moreover, the world of farmers and investors is concrete and is driven by accordingly nature and stock market. Abstractions and thinking in non-existent worlds are alien to them. They also make decisions after thoroughly doing their homework. 'Investigate everything and keep what is good,' is the motto. Farmers do this, among other things, by visiting agricultural exhibitions, delving into professional literature and by collaborating with universities such as Wageningen. Successful investors visit companies at home and abroad, read 'everything under the sun' and are in contact with leading universities.

Investors usually operate from cities. Farmers, by definition, work in rural areas. Life on a farm is idyllic, less hurried and there is plenty of living space and peaceful nature. Numerous studies show that a green environment gives a better feeling and fewer health complaints. Then again, farmers and successful investors do enjoy respectively growing crops and growing stock prices.