As a freshman chicory grower, Kevin Fleerkate gained many new impressions and experiences in 2022. Together with his advisor, he successfully brought the crop to the finish line. "Chicory cultivation brings new impetus to our company."
Kevin Fleerkate's main task is work planning at the agricultural contractor Groot Zevert in Beltrum (Gelderland). But for the past two years he has also been involved in arable farming. "In order to improve machine utilization, we have started building an arable branch", Kevin begins his story. "But we want more than just maize cultivation and rental for seed potatoes. So we started growing arable crops ourselves. And those are my responsibility."
Take advantage of expert advice
Seed onions made their appearance in 2021, followed by chicory a year later. "That was Marcel Schut's idea," says Fleerkate, referring to his Agrifirm advisor. "Chicory fits well with the employment film of the contracting company", Schut explains his advice. "And chicory is hardly bothered by nematodes and also multiplies very little. That is also important."
Challenge
When asked about the biggest challenge of the new crop, Kevin doesn't have to think twice. "That is absolutely the weed control. We have a fairly high weed pressure here in the area and the resources package for chicory is not excessively large. I have talked a lot with Marcel about the approach. The most important lesson is that you sow and emergence must be on top. You then have to take action almost every week. If it is not for spraying, then for a crop inspection." Schut adds: "The strength of weed control lies in repetition and timing. So get down on your knees every week to see if there are white germ threads again."
That discipline took some getting used to for Fleerkate, he admits. "In our usual activities, it is usually not so bad if you change the schedule once because it suits you better. With weed control in chicory, delay is out of the question. New seedlings means spraying immediately because correcting later is very difficult in chicory But we have been able to keep the weeds under control this season. The crop has remained nice and clean."
Few headaches
With the exception of weed control, chicory cultivation has not caused Kevin much of a headache. They did the tillage themselves and a fellow contractor sowed the chicory. "When sowing, the soil was nicely moist; we had a rise of 97%. Later it became a bit drier and we irrigated. In the end, 100% was on top," Fleerkate beams. "But if I couldn't water, I probably wouldn't have sown chicory." Sufficient moisture is also important for the proper functioning of the soil herbicides that are added to the product mix at the beginning, says Schut. "And if the soil gets really dry, the chicory will still stop, despite its taproot. The cultivation layer here is only 35 centimetres." Fleerkate chicory has been watered three more times from mid-July.
Download the handy weed control manual
At the time of the interview, in mid-September, partly thanks to the irrigation, there was a nice fresh crop with strong roots. The harvest will be a bit of improvisation for Fleerkate, because he is now the only chicory grower for miles around and there are no suitable beet harvesters in the area. "To harvest chicory, the cleaning of a beet harvester has to be adapted; you also need other harvesting shears. That's why a contractor from Twente is coming this year. But if the cultivation here starts to grow, I hope someone in the neighborhood will pick up the gauntlet ."
land hunger
Whether chicory cultivation in the Achterhoek will actually increase? It will not be the enthusiasm of Fleerkate. "It is a nice crop and my colleagues from the contracting company also enjoy it. It has really brought new impetus to our company. We would like to grow with the arable sector and therefore also with chicory. But there is a lot of land hunger in this area So we'll have to wait and see, but I regularly get questions from interested arable farmers in the area."
Find your chicory advisor here
Kevin also has a tip for aspiring chicory growers: "Get a good advisor. I am very happy that Marcel has taken so much time for a novice grower like me. Chicory is a challenging crop and that makes it fun. is a serious matter at the same time."