News Weather
Crops will soon be able to go into the ground quickly
Astronomical Spring will begin on Wednesday, March 20. This is also the starting signal for a period of warmer spring weather. Can arable farmers and livestock farmers get back on the land, or will the improvement be short-lived?
As dry as the winter passed, so wet has March been until now. In many places the counter has exceeded 100 millimeters and in very extreme cases even double that; especially in the middle and north of the country it is (very) wet. The southwestern arable area is significantly drier, although at least 60 millimeters has fallen there too.
Extreme precipitation
On average, 68 millimeters of rain falls in the month of March. The month this year is the wettest in 10 years and even the third wettest since 3. This is double. On the one hand, it is a downer, after the beautiful spring weather at the end of February. The sowing and planting machines then got off to a flying start. On the other hand, the farmers, especially on the high sandy soils, are very happy. The precipitation deficit has partly been eliminated.
Thanks to the dry winter, the precipitation deficit in the Netherlands was even greater than in the 1976/1977 season, although we are heading for 0 millimeters with the most recent data. However, it is still relatively dry, as we normally have a precipitation surplus of 200 millimeters at the start of March.
Not only in the Netherlands did a lot of precipitation fall. The large rivers carry a lot of water, which has caused local flooding in Limburg. This is partly due to a lot of rainfall in the Belgian and French Ardennes. On the other hand, the buffers can be replenished in this way.
Spring weather coming
With the arrival of spring (Wednesday March 20), the weather also changes significantly. Temperatures will rise to 15 degrees Celsius, although locally as much as 20 degrees Celsius is possible. At night it will remain cold at first, with a chance of a few degrees of night frost. The sunny weather is expected to last until the end of March.
After 1 week of warming up, drying up and settling, spring work can start gently again in the last days of the month; especially on the sandy soils and in the south of the country, where less precipitation has fallen. The arable farmers in Flevoland, North Holland and the northern and northeastern arable areas probably need a little more patience. Actually, it is quite a traditional image.
Average sowing date
When it is possible to sow at the turn of March and April, the sowing date for the sugar beets is very average. This also applies to the onions. The planting of early potatoes will probably start soon, given the earlier proclaim urge for new harvest.
On the other hand, it is not entirely cake and egg. Meteo Group expects April to start erratically; there is even talk of snow and hail. However, the temperature remains at normal values, around 12 degrees Celsius. However, it is difficult to make firm statements about the further course. After a mixed start, April is expected to bring drier and sunnier weather. May can also be warm and dry at times. The chance of that is higher than normal.
Big contrast
The contrast between the early sown and potted crops and what goes into the ground is probably great. There is then approximately 1 month between these periods. Plots with seed onions and sugar beet have suffered from the heavy rainfall, where the (winter) onion sets can have more. Despite the wet and cold soil, the seed has germinated and started carefully. With warmer weather on the way, these plots can build up a head start; especially if it stays dry for a long time.
Also view the weather video by Robert de Vries 'Dry and warm weather on the way, but is that positive?'
Niels van der Boom
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