The area figures were presented at the beginning of July. These turned out to be mainly predictable. Less winter grain, slightly more potatoes and, above all, a lot more onions. Regionally, the shifts are as you would expect. Groningen is developing into an onion paradise and Brabant is the place to go for potatoes for consumption. The strong increase in silage maize this season is striking.
Every year Boer&Bunder.nl publishes the area figures at provincial and municipal level, based on the BRP boundaries. These are the plots as registered by agricultural entrepreneurs and submitted for the CAP. Normally this provides a very reliable basis. This year there are doubts about this, because plots have sometimes been partially or not at all sown or planted with the crop that was planned this spring. Although these are minor deviations at a national level, as these are excesses.
Groningen the onion paradise
The shift from fewer seed onions in the 'traditional' cultivation areas and more in the 'new' areas will continue in 2024. In percentage terms, Drenthe accounts for the largest increase in area. In absolute numbers, Groningen is the biggest riser. The area there has increased by more than 1.000 hectares. Good for a quarter more onions: from 3.866 to 4.887 hectares. In Drenthe this is 889 hectares and the area is growing to 3.531 hectares.
North Brabant should also not be forgotten when we talk about seed onions. Central and East Brabant in particular are rapidly emerging cultivation areas. This year the province will have 4.219 hectares. An increase of 589 hectares or 16%. After Flevoland and Groningen, the province comes in third, followed by Drenthe.
Significantly more onion sets in Zeeland
Zeeland is still just in the top five, with an area of 2.622 hectares. A shrinkage of 454 hectares (-14,75%). The province is growing onion sets again. A quarter more has even been planted, which may be because onions could not be sown everywhere. With an area of 3.127 hectares, Zeeland has by far the most onion sets. North Brabant follows with 1.903 hectares. There, cultivation extends to 236 hectares. South Holland, number three, is rising very slightly.
With over 19.000 hectares of ware potatoes, North Brabant is absolutely the largest producer of this crop in our country. The cultivation has increased by 276 hectares this year. Good for 1,5% expansion. In Zeeland – number two – this is relatively large with 772 hectares. The area amounts to 15.620 hectares, which is the largest area since 2011. While onion cultivation continues to be scaled back due to disappointing harvests and high risks, this is apparently not the case with consumption potatoes, even though it is not always easy. in the coastal province.
Fewer starchy potatoes
Groningen shows a similar increase with 678 hectares of additional consumption potatoes. Not shocking in itself, but it does show that farmers here choose higher-yielding crops. The seed potato area there will shrink by 360 hectares. Elsewhere this remains stable to slightly shrinking. Growth in the consumption area is not visible in Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland. The cultivation there grows on between 90 and 120 hectares. The idea that more land will become available to livestock farmers and be filled with potatoes cannot be substantiated. This can be said earlier for seed onions. However, it is more likely that the space for consumption potatoes and seed onions will come from the area for starch potatoes. In Drenthe, cultivation will shrink by almost 7% this year, to 19.690 hectares. That is a decrease of 1.300 hectares. In Groningen this decrease amounts to 853 hectares, or 6%.
The fact that dairy farming is shrinking is visible in North Brabant. There, the area of grassland decreases by 1.667 hectares to 95.472 hectares. In Eastern Netherlands, the area of grassland is shrinking by several hundred hectares per province.
More silage maize
What is striking is a sharp increase in the cultivation of silage maize. A total of 209.000 hectares of silage and grain maize has been planned this year. Last year that was 196.965 hectares. That is 6,11% more. Good for 12.000 hectares.
The cause for this must be sought in various factors. First of all, the fact that spring 2024 was extremely late, which sometimes made corn the only option. On the other hand, grain prices have normalized and farmers may opt for corn more often. Moreover, due to the wet autumn and spring, it was not always possible to sow grain. In Brabant, farmers have sown 2.400 hectares of extra corn. Not surprising, since this crop is often used as 'construction plan fill'. More than 1.900 hectares of extra maize have been sown in Gelderland and 1.050 hectares in Drenthe.
Wheat acreage plummets
Statistics Netherlands has already calculated that the area of winter wheat has decreased significantly. Especially in Zeeland and Groningen, arable farmers sowed less due to the wet autumn. This concerns 27,5% and 36,5% less area. Nowhere else is this decline so large in absolute figures. In percentage terms, Drenthe (75%), North Brabant (50%), Friesland (45%) and Limburg (39%) are declining even faster, but the area is slightly smaller. Yet this amounts to thousands of hectares less winter wheat per province.
Spring wheat and barley have offset these declines somewhat, but by no means completely. Spring wheat has been sown especially in Groningen. This is 186% more, up to 3.000 hectares. The area of spring barley there has increased by 50%. Good for almost 3.000 hectares.