The Dutch began building windmills around the year 1200 to pump water, and then came those designed to grind grain. Currently, 1,624 Dutch people have a diploma to maintain a windmill at full capacity, and another 87 have water mills.

Most of them are volunteers who work in their free hours - there are also tourist mills. Only fifty millers operate full time, as professionals who earn money from their work. The stereotype of a lonely, male miller of a certain age is losing strength and a new generation of fans arrives. There are mills with a website as well as a physical and digital store that sell a wide variety of products. There is wheat, spelled, rye, buckwheat and corn flour. Also wheat, oat and barley flakes; wheat bran, corn and wheat grits; dry yeast, flax, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, sunflower or mustard seeds. In 2024, National Mill Day will be held on the weekend of May 11 and 12.