Alumnus testimonial
Linking farm, enterprise and software
My name is Patrick Honcoop and I graduated in January. At the moment I am working in Germany for 365FarmNet.
The broad general knowledge is important in order to be a good link and a successful product manager.
Study
The bachelor and master of Biosystems Engineering is very comprehensive with a lot of space for courses of own choice. For example, I took a minor in ‘business, management and innovation’. At the end I completed my thesis and internship at various departments of machine manufacturer CLAAS GmbH in Harsewinkel (DL). Besides my studies I was active in various committees and the board of the student association Heeren XVII. Thanks to my extensive knowledge in agribusiness and my management experiences of the internship and the board, I have a profile that fits well with my job as a product manager.
I have lived and studied 5 years with great pleasure in Wageningen; Because of the small group at the study and the mutual interest in agriculture and technology, I have built a close group of friends. Regularly I’ll still see my friends; be it in the pub or be it in the business.
Job
After my studies I could work within CLAAS by their subsidiary 365FarmNet in Berlin. 365FarmNet supports the farmer with his entire agricultural business management using only one software application: safe, efficient and mobile. Master data and business-relevant information need only be entered once. Through intelligent interfaces to partner applications from several agricultural companies, 356FarmNet provides an overarching management support; 365 days a year.
At 365FarmNet I work as a product manager. In this position I am responsible for the implementation of the software and I see myself as a link between the farmer, (potential) agricultural companies and the software developers. All these stakeholders are experts in their own field; it is therefore important to have a broad general knowledge of the agricultural sector in order to be a good link and a successful product manager. The dynamism and diversity of this function is very interesting; one moment I’m working on precision fertilization and the other moment at ration calculations. A day later I can be in the field on the farm or I present enthusiastically 365FarmNet with one of our partners or I’m at an exhibition like the Agritechnica. Just as during my studies where various courses and excursions of Heeren XVII brought me already in contact with the farmers and various companies and exhibitions.