Dutch Crop tour Onions- Week 20
Drought hits land, irrigation starts again
The Netherlands has been exceptionally dry in recent weeks, and the weather forecast offers little hope for rain. Growers across the country are already struggling with an increasing moisture shortage on their plots. Very different from last spring, when growers mainly had to deal with wet conditions on the land. We gauge the mood among the participants in the Boerenbusiness Crop tour.
In many places, only a fraction of the normal precipitation has fallen since March 1. Nevertheless, many crops appear to be holding up well so far. Jacky Dieleman, a grower from Philippine (Zeeland), has recorded only 1 mm of precipitation since March 24,8. "That is really very little for us," he says. Klaas Jan Boer from Kortgene confirms the picture: he came to 26 mm. "The crops are holding up well," he says, "but the wheat is already extremely early in the ear."
In Nederweert (Limburg), Hubert Linders has had slightly more rain: 52 mm. He is less concerned about the moisture at the moment. "The lean weather with cold nights is now more of a problem." Conditions are also dry in Flevoland. Jan Berend Biesheuvel, arable farmer from Zeewolde (Fl.), has 27,8 mm. "The soil is drying up quickly now, especially with the low humidity of the coming days."
In North Brabant, David de Wit, a grower from Lepelstraat (NB), indicates that he has only had 21 mm. "The potatoes are still nice and moist, the wheat is doing well, and the beets don't need much. But for the grass seed, the onions and the sowing of the chicory, an extra 30 mm can't do any harm."
Irrigation has already started in many places
The drought is forcing growers to irrigate now. "I'll give the onions some water next week, so they can continue to grow well," says Jan Berend Biesheuvel. David de Wit reports that he is already on his third irrigation round. "The little ones seem to be standing still. The connection has to be made again."
In Beemte Broekland (Gelderland), Ruud Vossebeld is doing better: since April 9, 55,2 mm has fallen there. In Drenthe, Arjen Jacobs had 50,8 mm in the past four weeks. That offers some relief, but there too, irrigation is already coming into the picture. And irrigation is difficult now: the current and expected wind limits the distribution of the water, and the low relative humidity ensures faster evaporation.
Farmers remain alert and resourceful despite drought
Reinder Hogenhout from Kimswerd (Friesland) has now turned on his drip hoses again. "This will make the soil moist enough to be able to harrow this week." He is positive about his onions: "They are no dirtier than the usual plots that I see." He also tackles weed control with precision technology: "Soon I will be clearing the last weeds with the Ecorobotix." In the meantime, crop protection measures continue. For example, Jan Berend Biesheuvel reports that he carried out a contact spraying on Friday.
According to the Dutch weather forecast, the coming weeks will remain relatively dry. For now, the crops are holding up well, but it remains uncertain how long this can be maintained without serious precipitation. Weather models such as ECMWF and GFS cautiously show a chance of rain in the medium term. But whether that will actually fall remains to be seen.
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