The area for consumption potatoes will shrink by 2% this year, but that is a flattened figure. What about movements within the provinces? The figures for Drenthe in particular show a special movement with a tail. Are potatoes being 'chopped' to avoid the harvest deadline? Incidentally, a striking movement can also be seen in Groningen.
'Official' data published by CBS is still missing due to a delayed Combined Declaration this year. Boer&Bunder has already published the figures, from RVO, on their platform. These dates are the BRP limits as specified in the May census. You can talk about the shifts in all crops read more here.
Fewer potatoes in the Netherlands
What is the specific situation with potato cultivation in the Netherlands? The area for consumption potatoes for 2023 amounts to 75.764 hectares. That is a decrease of 2% compared to last year. Compared to the five-year average, cultivation has remained approximately the same. The cultivation of starch potatoes remains very stable at 40.000 hectares. The biggest decline is for seed potatoes, as we have been seeing for some time know. 42.300 hectares have been given up, compared to 45.950 hectares last year. A decrease of 8%.
The NAK also calculates that 38.776 hectares have been submitted for inspection. The calculations for CAP subsidies are considerably more generous.
Relatively small shifts are visible between the eleven potato provinces (Utrecht has 35 hectares of potatoes). With 18.900 hectares in North Brabant and 14.870 hectares in Zeeland, these are definitely the largest consuming provinces. These two control 44% of the national area. Flevoland follows at an appropriate distance with 9.220 hectares.
Quarter fewer potatoes in Drenthe
In percentage terms, North Holland shows the largest outlier upwards. The area has increased by 5%, which is 130 hectares out of a total of 2.913 hectares. The downward peak is more striking: in Drenthe. The area there will shrink by almost a quarter, to 3.400 hectares. A year ago that was 4.476 hectares.
It is nothing new that the Northeast Netherlands is a growth region for consumer cultivation. Although that doesn't really show up in the area figures because they play ping-pong in all directions. Ten years ago the area jumped and again in 2017, but then fluctuated somewhat. 2022 was an outlier and the second largest area since 2018.
According to insiders, this remarkable shift is due to the 'harvest deadline' which is currently set for October 1. Growers would register their consumption potatoes as starch because - unlike consumer cultivation - the starch potatoes can be harvested later without incurring a nitrogen discount in the following season.
Starch area is steadily declining
The area of starch potatoes in the province is indeed shrinking, but by only one percent to 21.000 hectares. That is, by the way, the smallest area in recent history. Ten years ago, 2.500 hectares more starch pipits were grown. The figures do not support the story that consumer cultivation has been transformed on paper.
A similar picture can be seen in Groningen, but in a sagging shape. Potato cultivation intended for consumption will shrink by 7% to 1.625 hectares. That is more than 600 hectares less than in 2022 and a third less than the five-year average. Here too, it is not starch cultivation that is gaining hectares. This decreases by 2% to 14.272 hectares.
Choice of onions
What are those potato hectares used for growing? The answer can partly be found in onion cultivation, more about this in a later analysis. The figures from Boer&Bunder show that more grain is also grown in the two northeastern provinces.
Back to the large provinces in terms of consumer cultivation. Cultivation here is increasing slightly. For example, 363 hectares more will be cultivated in North Brabant this year. Flevoland comes second with 243 hectares. In addition to Drenthe and Groningen, cultivation is also shrinking in South Holland and Overijssel, by 330 hectares each.
22.000 hectares fewer crops
A decrease in cultivation cannot always be traced back to an alternative crop. The increase in buffer strips, non-productive agricultural land, fallow or green fallow. It causes a decrease in the net cultivated area everywhere in the Netherlands. If you add up the area of the nineteen largest crops, you get 1,65 million hectares this year compared to 1,67 million hectares last year. A decrease of almost 22.000 hectares. Of course, this is not all due to buffer strips and fallow edges, but also to the withdrawal of land from agriculture.