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'Beet Seed Service is very useful'
Arable farmer Jarno Rietema used the Beet Seed Service last year. He decided to overseed because of a too low plant number due to crust formation between sowing and emergence. "As long as precipitation remains difficult to predict at a local level, there will always be added value for growers to participate in the Beet Seed Service."
Rietema has an arable farm in Oudeschip in Northeast Groningen, with light and heavier soil. "On average we have good soil," he laughs. Last year, the grower sowed Queena KWS Force on a plot of 4 hectares with a siltability of 29%. The variety is very suitable for heavier clay soil, especially because it provides little tare and because of the head height. The grower uses the Beet Advice System BAS when choosing the varieties for his plots. "Our system often results in a KWS variety. That's why we almost always sow KWS varieties."
Hard crust and gluttony
Last spring started relatively dry and the pre-sowing outlook was that it would remain dry. The seedbed turned out well and the sowing went almost perfectly, nicely closed with loose fine soil. But the next day it rained and snowed. The topsoil shriveled up. The strong drying period afterwards resulted in a hard crust. Many plants failed to grow through it, resulting in an undersized crop. In addition, feeding caused even more plant loss in a number of places. The number of plants was so low that overseeding was necessary.
Rietema had given up his plots to the Beet Seed Service, just like the year before. "You don't hope so, but it can always fail," he explains. "As humanity, we know and can do more and more, but we still cannot accurately predict tomorrow's weather. As a result, the following still applies: sowing keeps reaping."
He compares the Beet Seed Service to an insurance premium. "Of course it is not a full compensation, you still lose time and money to prepare the plot again, but it does help that half of the seed is reimbursed by KWS. That lowers the mental threshold for overseeding. Overseeding is of course never the intention, but it's not a shame either."
Done quickly and neatly
The young arable farmer is satisfied with the simple way of registering the field via the myKWS account. "You only have to specify the plot in time and then it's already arranged. I ordered the new seed via the Cosun portal and KWS sent it to Groningen by parcel service the next day, well arranged." After sowing it remained dry for a while, but when there was some rainfall, all the seeds became a beet. "All in all it turned out well; the yield was good", Rietema looks back. In the northeast of Groningen, the yields are often good, he says, especially in hot and dry summers such as in 2022. "Here on the coast it doesn't get as hot as in other parts of the Netherlands and we have commanding soil." The grower has no doubts about registering his plots for the Beet Seed Service again this year: "I will definitely do that."
How does the Beet Seed Service work?
Register
Register your KWS varieties in your myKWS account. Plot registration is open this season from April 30, 2023.
Damage, now what?
Report the damage before June 17, 2023 in your myKWS account or call KWS. You can order new KWS beet seed from Cosun Beet Company. After an evaluation, 50% of the beet seed invoice will be credited.
