Boerenbusiness Poll
Arable farmer mainly cuts potato acreage
Last Thursday asked Boerenbusiness readers to the building plan for next season. Will the corona outbreak affect crop areas and which crops will be affected or expanded? We summarize the results.
More than half of all readers stated that they will not (anymore) change their cultivation plan for the current growing season. More than 224% of the 50 voters indicated this. A group of 36% say they will make changes, and about 10% do not know this yet.
Especially less potatoes
The chip potato sector has suffered the greatest blows in arable land as a result of the corona crisis. It is therefore not surprising that most of this crop is cut. In half of all cases, the acreage of this cultivation is reduced. In second place are other crops, outside the usual cropping plan. Sugar beets and onions follow next.
According to the poll results, the lack of potatoes is mainly supplemented by grains and/or maize. This was the case in 44% of the cases. Other crops are again at 3. Perhaps it is striking that potatoes are mentioned here in 12% of the cases.
No trust
The motivations behind these decisions can be guessed at. The lack of confidence in the sales market is mentioned with dot on 1, followed by the current price level of the products. Then follows the inability to contract.
At the same time, the readers indicate that the cultivated area will remain unchanged this year. 62% filled in this option. A group of 23% does say that they rent or lease less land. The response to the question whether growers expect to run into financial problems is more mixed. The percentages are pretty similar there. The largest group cannot yet say whether it will run into problems due to the current crisis. An almost equally large group thinks they can pull it off. Only 6% indicate that they already have financial problems.
The percentages and numbers mentioned in this article were the position on April 6 at 12:15 pm.
Niels van der Boom
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