Onion area breaks records, considerably more potatoes

This year, just like in 2017 and 2018, more potatoes and onions are being grown in the Netherlands. In addition, the wheat acreage also shows an increase. This is apparent from the provisional area figures on Friday 28 June, which the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) bases on the Combined Statement.

The total potato area this year amounts to 168.890 hectares, which is an increase of 2,4% compared to last year. Of this, 79.460 hectares are ware potatoes. That is 4,1% more than last year. The acreage has not been this large since 2000.

The seed potato area amounts to 44.130 hectares, which is an increase of 1,33% (580 hectares). That is more than the growth that the NAK at the beginning of June published (130 hectares). The starch potato area is increasing the least: +0,5% to 45.300 hectares.

Substantial growth in acreage for seed onions
The total area of ​​onions grows from 34.850 hectares to 37.230 hectares. The seed onion acreage grows by 9,5% to 27.800 hectares. That is a record and a doubling compared to the year 2000. The onion set acreage decreases (after the growth of last year) by 2,2% to 8.900 hectares.

The wheat acreage is also writing black figures after several years of declines. Compared to 2018, the wheat acreage has increased to 122.000 hectares, which is an increase of 8,9%. The summer wheat area, on the other hand, decreases by 43% to 9.000 hectares. That comes after a lot of spring wheat was sown in 2018 due to wet conditions in the fall of 2017. The winter wheat area increased by 17% to 113.040 hectares.

Room for growth
However, the main question is where does the room for growth come from? This is partly due to the fact that the arable acreage in the Netherlands has increased by 4% to 536.000 hectares. The sugar beet acreage also decreases by 6,4% to 79.790 hectares. In addition, there is some room due to the decrease in the barley area. That area decreases by more than 2.000 hectares to almost 34.000 hectares. The decrease is only due to spring barley. That area decreases by 5.000 hectares, while the area of ​​winter barley continues to increase.

With regard to the other crops, it is particularly striking that the winter carrot area has increased by 12% to 6.930 hectares. The carrot area increases by 170 hectares to 2.850 hectares. The grass seed area also increases by almost 20% to 11.350 hectares.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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