At potato growers
100 reports of damage from precipitation
The rain gauge of many farmers in the coastal region of the Netherlands overflowed last week. More than 200 millimeters fell in the head of North Holland. This leads to major damage to crops. Potatoes in particular face problems. Claims are pouring in to insurers.
On Monday September 18, Vereinigte Hagel will have 100 damage reports, says director Jan Schreuder. On Tuesday, September 12, there were still 35 reports and about 14 reports on Thursday, September 50. "The damage is obvious. We are now busy with an assessment, but this will take quite some time. Only after 2 weeks, when the potatoes are rotting, you can draw a correct conclusion about the total damage," says Schreuder. "In a number of places it has rained 5 millimeters or more in 180 days. Every millimeter that falls now causes nuisance. This is because the soil is saturated."
Precipitation in Coastal Regions
The coastal regions in particular have been hit hard by the excessive precipitation. In a number of places in Zeeland, the monthly sum now exceeds 150 millimeters. In the button of Noord-Holland the situation is even worse. In places the counter has already gone over 200 millimeters. This gives the province the dubious honor of calling itself the wettest area in the Netherlands.
Reports of flooding are also coming in from Friesland and the Kop van Groningen. Flevoland also has to deal with heavy precipitation. Visitors to PotatoEurope in Emmeloord could experience this for themselves. On Sunday, September 17, parts of Flevoland and North Holland also received a lot of rain.
East is drier
Last year, the southeast of the Netherlands was severely affected by flooding, which caused a lot of damage. This year it is relatively dry, with 30 to 50 millimeters of precipitation. A lot of rain has also fallen in the northeast, but that has not yet led to real problems.
Text continues below the image.
Everything to the left of the Middelburg-Groningen line has been roughly affected by flooding. In the southeast it is remarkably dry.
Similarities to '98
"It is a well-known picture in the coastal towns. The sea water is relatively warm, which causes showers, and they remain above the land," explains Schreuder. "Anyone who has experienced anything from 1998 is now thinking back to this situation. The time is almost the same. There is no other option than to wait until the tubers have completely rotted away and then harvest. Rotten tubers are in storage disastrous for storage. In 1998, frost threw a spanner in the works, so that ultimately it was not possible to harvest at all."
Favorable Expectation
Fortunately, the weather for the next 14 days looks more positive. Frost does not seem to be an issue. Little to no rain is expected and the daytime temperature climbs to 18-19 degrees. Hopefully that will provide some relief for the flooded plots. In addition to potatoes, other crops have also been affected. Many onions still have to be harvested or are in the swath. A few dry weeks are required for the harvest.
Update 11: 30:
Insurer Agriver has now received more than 50 reports of flooding. That is what director Marien Boersma says. The majority come from arable farmers from the southwest. This mainly concerns potatoes, but damage to field vegetables, carrots, onions and spinach is also reported.
Niels van der Boom
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.