Arable farming takes a big hit with spring work

It is estimated that about half of all onions still had to be sown on May 1. For sugar beets, this was 40% of the area where the seed was still in the package. Looking at the weather conditions and activities in the country, this area was sown last week, with a sowing capacity of 10% area per day. The circumstances under which this had to happen are not always ideal, but given the calendar, waiting is not an option.

encrusting
Previously sown crops often struggle with crust formation on clay soil after heavy rainfall at the end of April. Breaking crusts, harrowing and irrigation is then necessary. The results are variable, but doing nothing is not an option. Warm weather ensures that crop development is now getting underway quickly.

It's a different story with potatoes. Only 10% of the area of ​​consumption potatoes was in the ground on May 1. According to Numbers of Aviko Potato this has now increased to half. That may be on the high side given the planting capacity, conditions and other activities. On the other hand, last week's 10% may have been on the low side. The soil conditions are not always good on both clay and sand, but waiting is also not an option. Even on the sandy soils in the east and southeast of the country, it is not possible to plant everywhere because parts of plots were simply not yet passable. The high plots have been planted and we have to wait until the rest is completed.

Most potatoes were planted in the past week, especially in the east and southeast, although all areas have caught up. This means that the planting work remains far behind compared to previous years. Looking at the weather forecasts for next week, not much can be done after today (Monday, May 8) this week.

Heavy showers
On Friday afternoon there were scattered showers throughout the country, with considerable local water falling. The differences are big. Sometimes even 30 millimeters in a few kilometers. Farmers in the northeast of Groningen had a hard time. In a short time, up to 60 millimeters of water fell, flooding plots of land. A fair amount of precipitation also fell in the polders and the east of the Netherlands, without causing any problems.

Belgium received much less rainfall last week. There the gap was even greater than in the Netherlands. There were hardly any significant potatoes in the ground. Aviko now estimates progress at 20%. In Germany this has increased to a third. In France it is 35%. It should be noted that this concerns Northern France. The closer to the coast, the more work remains to be done. In the east of the country, work is much more advanced.

Extreme drought
While farmers in the north and center of Europe are struggling with a difficult, chilly and especially wet spring, this is very different in the south of the continent. It has been dry and hot in the south of France, Spain and Italy for weeks. In Spain, the government is helping farmers with tax benefits, while agricultural entrepreneurs decide not to sow or plant anything this year. A shortage of water makes the gamble too big. At the end of April the mercury was already touching 40 degrees in southern Spain. The country has now also turned to Brussels for emergency support. The idea is that other European countries also benefit from vegetables, fruit and olive oil produced there.

Things are not much better in the border region between France and Spain. The French government even bans the sale of swimming pools, which you can no longer fill with tap water. Washing your car or watering the lawn is no longer an option. The drought in Southern Europe is a consequence of the dry year 2022. Moisture reserves have already been depleted and this has hardly changed. The winter was exceptionally dry. As a result, it has been too dry in Spain for 32 months in a row.

Effects
The drought is once again a major blow for Spanish, French and Italian farmers. The impact on the yield of many products is significant. We don't notice much of this in Northwestern Europe at the moment. Fruit and vegetables were equally scarce and expensive last winter due to a combination of bad weather in Spain and low production in Dutch greenhouses. A lower grain harvest is now largely compensated by excellent grain crops further north. These are currently putting pressure on the market, which is not influenced by the news from Spain. Price formation for vegetables such as onions, potatoes and carrots may be influenced, but there are no signals of this at the moment.