SPNA agroresearch

What SPNA agroresearch does

SPNA (Stichting Proefboerderijen Noordelijke Akkerbouw) is a Dutch non-profit foundation founded around 1975 and operating as the dedicated applied agricultural research institution for arable farming on Northern Dutch clay soils. It conducts practice-oriented research for arable and organic farmers in Groningen and Friesland, with two physical trial farms — Proefboerderij Kollumerwaard in Munnekezijl (focused on seed potatoes and sowing onions) and Proefboerderij Ebelsheerd in Nieuw Beerta (focused on grains, oilseed rape, sowing onions, and sugar beets) — plus contracted field locations. Both farms run conventional and organic systems; SPNA also holds SKAL-certified organic land and is GEP and TNG certified to test efficacy and phytotoxicity of crop protection products, including work with non-approved pesticides.

The foundation's core technology is its physical trial infrastructure — grain analysis equipment at Ebelsheerd, a 3.2m fixed-track Controlled Traffic Farming system, and a salinization trial field with underground drip irrigation — combined with digital tools including the Trijntje web application (delivered via the FarmMaps platform for water-retention and soil management insights) and the Graanziektebarometer (a biweekly disease monitoring service for winter wheat). Active research programs span irrigation/fertigation, crop protection, soil health, nitrogen efficiency, controlled traffic farming, strip cultivation, salinization, weed control in grains and sugar beets, and protein crops.

SPNA generates revenue through three primary streams: commissioned research services for farmers and agricultural businesses, publicly funded projects from provinces (Groningen, Fryslân), EU programs (Trans4num, SOILCRATES), BO Akkerbouw, and other agricultural organizations, and ancillary services including trial field realization, grain analysis execution, demonstration and excursion facilitation, and meeting room rental. Pricing is quotation-based with multi-year contracts and milestone-based payment terms (30/40/30). The foundation reaches customers via direct relationships, field demonstrations, knowledge meetings, a quarterly newsletter, and an active website, and is embedded in a partner ecosystem that includes Wageningen University & Research (WUR), IRS, BO Akkerbouw, NAV, LTO Noord, Delphy, and the Fascinating open-innovation platform.

Name

SPNA agroresearch

Legal name

Stichting Proefboerderijen Noordelijke Akkerbouw

Website

https://spna.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SPNA is a Dutch non-profit foundation operating two trial farms that deliver applied agricultural research on Northern Dutch clay soils for arable and organic farmers in Groningen and Friesland, funded by commissioned research, provincial and EU grants, and agricultural sector organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112), Wheat Farming (11114), Oilseed (except Soybean) Farming (11112)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Yield Optimization & Crop Performance Consulting (AFACABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Plant Tissue, Soil & Water Sampling Coordination (Agronomy-Focused) (AFACABAH), Carbon, Sustainability & Farm Certification Support (Agro-Environmental Advisory) (AFACABAL), Soil Health & Biological Testing Services (Microbial Activity, Organic Matter, Respiration) (AFACAKAD), Pathogen & Disease Diagnostics Services (Plant, Soil, Water) (AFACAKAG), Pesticide Residue & Agrochemical Screening Services (Soil/Plant/Water) (AFACAKAF)

Keywords

• Agricultural research services
• Arable farming trials
• Crop protection testing
• Field experiment services
• Soil management research

Headquarters

HQ city

Nieuw Beerta

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commissioned Research Services: SPNA conducts commissioned practical research for agricultural clients, including field trials, crop protection product testing, and specialized agricultural experiments for farmers and agricultural businesses
2. Publicly Funded Research Projects: Research projects funded by provincial governments (Groningen, Fryslan), EU programs, BO Akkerbouw, and other agricultural organizations
3. Service Offerings: Services including trial field realization, grain analysis execution, facilitating demonstrations and excursions, and meeting room rental

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SPNA operates two trial farms in the Northern Netherlands (Kollumerwaard in Munnekezijl and Ebelsheerd in Nieuw Beerta) where it conducts practical, field-based agricultural research for arable farming on clay soils. Its core offerings include commissioned field trial realization, grain and oilseed rape quality analysis, GEP/TNG-certified crop protection product testing, facilitation of demonstrations and excursions, and meeting room rental, supported by specialized digital tools such as the Trijntje water-retention application and the Graanziektebarometer disease monitoring service.

Product overview

SPNA (Stichting Proefboerderijen Noordelijke Akkerbouw) is a research institution for arable farming on Northern clay soils, operating two trial farms — Proefboerderij Ebelsheerd in Nieuw Beerta and Proefboerderij Kollumerwaard in Munnekezijl. It offers practical research services, field trial realization, grain analysis, demonstrations, and meeting room facilities. Its digital tools include the Trijntje application (for water and soil parcel management via FarmMaps platform) and the Graanziektebarometer (disease monitoring service). SPNA also conducts extensive multi-year research across topics such as irrigation/fertigation, crop protection, soil health (Soilcrates), nitrogen efficiency, controlled traffic farming, strip cultivation, salinization, weed control in grains and sugar beets, and protein crops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Proefveld realisatie (Trial Field Realization) End-to-end realization of agricultural research field trials at SPNA's trial farms for arable farming clients, including trial design, setup and on-farm execution across conventional and organic production systems.
• Graananalyse uitvoering (Grain Analysis Execution) Quality determinations of grains and oilseed rape conducted using the grain analysis apparatus at Proefboerderij Ebelsheerd in Nieuw Beerta, available to interested parties including farmers and agribusiness clients.
• Faciliteren van demonstraties en excursies (Demonstrations and Excursions) Organization and hosting of demonstrations, field excursions, theme evenings and other knowledge-sharing events at SPNA's trial farms for farmer groups, sector organizations and other stakeholders.
• Gebruik vergaderruimte (Meeting Room Rental) Rental of meeting rooms at SPNA's trial farm locations for agricultural meetings, knowledge events and group sessions.
• Trijntje A web-based application (accessible on smartphone and PC) that provides insight into the water-retention capacity of agricultural parcels in the northern Dutch clay region, enabling farmers to explore scenario-based management actions for water excess or deficit.
• Graanziektebarometer A biweekly monitoring service that tracks the progression of the most common diseases in winter wheat throughout the growing season at SPNA's Ebelsheerd and Kollumerwaard trial farms, with results distributed to subscribers during the season.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50 years of practical agricultural research experience in Northern Netherlands
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EU Horizon - Trans4numcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022SPNA participates in a 4-year EU Horizon project led by University Hohenheim focused on nature-based solutions and plant-based fertilization. Also involves WUR. Project aims at circular agriculture and sustainable nutrient supply.
• Fascinating Program PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Fascinating is an open innovation platform connecting agriculture, knowledge institutions and society for circular agriculture. Partners include Agrifirm, Avebe, Cosun, FrieslandCampina, LTO Noord, Province of Groningen, and UMCG. SPNA contributes trial and demonstration fields for protein crops research.
• Zoet op Zout ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Zoet op Zout program supports SPNA's salinization research and develops knowledge center for salinization for farmers and companies domestically and internationally.
• Trijntje Project ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Trijntje was a DAW (Deltaplan Agrarisch Waterbeheer) funded project developing a web application for water retention insights. Consortium included Tot en met Projecten, WUR, Akkerweb, and Stichting Biowerk.
• BO AkkerbouwcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBO Akkerbouw is a key research funding partner supporting various SPNA projects including weed control research, controlled traffic farming, and salinization studies.
• IRS (Institute for Sugar Beet Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIRS coordinates national variety research for sugar beets and conducts trials at SPNA locations.
• Wageningen University & Research (WUR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWUR collaborates on various SPNA research projects including protein crops, controlled traffic farming, and agricultural innovation.
• DelphyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelphy collaborated with SPNA on bioconservation crop research (2016-2017) and other agricultural consulting projects.
• EU Project SOILCRATEScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU project bringing together farmers, governments, companies and knowledge institutions to improve soil health and promote sustainable agriculture.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Arvalis - Institut du végétal: France's leading applied arable-farming research institute; comparable field-trial and agronomy services targeting cereals, potatoes, and sugar beet but operating primarily in the French market.
• Nordic Beet Research (NBR): Sweden-based sugar beet research foundation with similar applied-trial and variety-testing operations; analogous institutional structure serving arable farmers in a different but adjacent Northern European region.

Direct peers

• Delphy: Dutch agricultural advisory and applied research consultancy; Delphy has directly collaborated with SPNA on bioconservation crop research and operates a comparable model of practical crop research and farmer-facing services.
• Wageningen University & Research (WUR): The Netherlands' flagship agricultural research university; WUR collaborates with SPNA on multiple projects (protein crops, controlled traffic farming, EU Horizon Trans4num) and is the closest direct peer in field-trial research and applied arable-farming science.
• IRS (Institute for Sugar Beet Research): The Dutch sugar beet research institute; IRS coordinates national variety research at SPNA's locations, making it a closely comparable specialist research organization in arable crop trials.

Emerging players

• Louis Bolk Institute: Independent Dutch research institute focused on organic and sustainable agriculture; comparable to SPNA's organic/sustainability research stream, including SKAL-aligned trials and nature-inclusive farming.

Others

• BO Akkerbouw: Dutch arable-farming commodity board funding much of SPNA's research (weed control, salinization, controlled traffic farming); an enabling/funding partner rather than direct competitor but central to SPNA's research direction.
• NAK (Dutch General Inspection Service): Dutch authority for inspection and certification of seed potatoes and arable seed; adjacent ecosystem participant that intersects with SPNA's variety-trial and certification work in the Dutch seed-potato chain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spna-agroresearch

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SPNA agroresearch