The carrot growers have had 2 reasonable seasons, and now the question arises what the acreage will do in 2019. The seed suppliers and the trade indicate that more early carrots have been sown, but is that the case?
A lot of early carrots were sown in February and traders indicate that there will probably be more early carrots this year than last year. "I think this is mainly due to the fact that a lot has already been sown, while sowing is usually more spread out. So the question remains how many additional hectares are involved," says Joost Litjens, advisor at Bejo Seeds, knowledge.
Make decisions at the last minute
Litjens expects the area to remain the same. "Seed sales are going well and we expect that the acreage of large carrots and B-carrots will not change much. However, this remains unpredictable, because growers can decide at the last minute to sow carrots; carrots can also be planted in May. be sown. A small number of growers will wait for the market."
In addition, Litjens sees that an increasingly larger area is shifting from North Holland to Flevoland. "This has been going on for a number of years. We also think that there has been little change in the choice of varieties. We do see that there is slightly more cover cultivation, where the carrots are sown late and stored in the ground. This concerns a small area, on the light soils."
Slight increase?
Frans van der Ploeg, the cultivation advisor at Hazera, also thinks that the area of carrots will remain the same, or perhaps increase slightly. "Those who grow carrots will continue to do so. New growers cannot easily be expected." The trade also expects that fewer carrots will be sown; some even think that the area will be slightly larger than in recent years.
Litjens and Van der Ploeg both expect that the first early carrot has already emerged. "In the south-west of the country, the first carrot has already grown, with 2 leaves. They are also already emerging in Flevoland," says Litjens. "Emergence is important for the success of the cultivation, so close attention must be paid to crust formation. This has not yet been very visible, because there has been little bright sun."
Tense market
The current market has a tense undertone, because there are considerable stocks in cold stores. Another factor is that there are significant quality problems, which makes it easy for the trade to obtain carrots. Those who still have good storage carrots, which can be stored until June, may benefit. This is because Spain will have largely disappeared from the market by then.
On the other hand, it is expected that the market will not be very dependent on the area in the Netherlands in the coming season. "Even if 5% more carrots are sold here, it will have little effect on the market. We also expect that Germany will continue to benefit from the 'own carrots first' principle," says Litjens.
Litjens continues: "We expect a decrease in the area in Belgium. There were many problems there last season, because growers were unable to irrigate due to the drought. There will also probably be less carrots for the industry, because the contracts are not always received positively. That could provide a small advantage for the Netherlands."