Brought to you by Limagrain
Rapeseed is good for the soil and appearance
To improve the soil, Koninklijke Maatschap de Wilhelminapolder included winter rapeseed in its cultivation plan for the first time in a long time this year. Initial experiences have been positive, says farm manager Mart Geelhoed. He believes other crops will benefit greatly from this in the future.
Koninklijke Maatschap de Wilhelminapolder (KMWP), located in Wilhelminadorp, Zeeland, is the largest private agricultural company in the Netherlands. It is a partnership with approximately 450 shareholders. Day-to-day management is in the hands of director Vincent Coolbergen and farm manager Mart Geelhoed. A total of fifteen people work there. The company, founded in 1809, owns approximately 2.000 hectares of land and farms 1.500 hectares of it. They grow potatoes (french fries, table potatoes, and seed potatoes), onions under sharecropping, winter wheat and barley, spring barley, alfalfa, timothy, flax, and this year, for the first time in a long time, rapeseed.
Just like in the Flevopolder
The partnership opted for rapeseed again because it acquired a new plot of land last year. For years, it had been a dairy farmer's grassland. "We did a lot to the plot," says Geelhoed. "Dipped ditches, brought in soil, leveled it... We were looking for a crop that was good for the soil, and that's how we came up with the idea of growing rapeseed." Geelhoed explains that they had done the same thing on new plots in the Flevopolder in the past to improve the soil. "And taking good care of the soil is very important to us." So, that's how KMWP incorporated rapeseed into its cropping plan for the first time since 1811. The rapeseed plot was approximately 42 hectares.
Many positive reactions
Rapeseed cultivation is also "very labor-intensive," says Geelhoed. Aside from weed control and nitrogen application, KMWP staff didn't have much work to do. "Pest pressure is very low here. Snails can also sometimes pose a threat to the crop, but we didn't see any of those here either." And, certainly also important this year, the rapeseed didn't show any drought stress, says Geelhoed. "The plants can really handle a lot. The flowering was also very beautiful, by the way, which local residents really appreciated. We've never had so many reactions to anything and saw photos appearing on all sorts of channels."
After the harvest in early July, the rapeseed reached the global market through FarmPlus. "We chop the straw finely and return it to the soil. This way, we aim to increase the organic matter content.
Figures of race very nice
So far, Geelhoed is very enthusiastic. "It's already worked out well. Considering that it wasn't arable land for a long time, the crop certainly looked good, and we're satisfied." KMWP has good contacts with the breeding and seed company Limagrain (LG) and also grows other crops from the company. Specialists at both FarmPlus and LG Seeds indicated that the variety Ambassador would be a good fit for KMWP. "It would have good root retention and wouldn't simply drop the seed before harvest. We were also promised a good yield. The figures for this variety are simply fantastic." This was reflected in the field. Geelhoed noticed that the rapeseed grew well, even though the soil wasn't optimal. "Especially if the soil had been in perfect condition, we would have had excellent results. We do see that the rooting is excellent, so we know it's very good for the soil. Other crops will only benefit from this later on."
Promising rest crop
Even though it's only the first year, Geelhoed is already confident that next year there will be flowering rapeseed again in the Zeeland fields around Wilhelminadorp and Wolphaartsdijk. "We're even considering expanding the acreage a bit." He also sees plenty of opportunities for other arable farmers in Zeeland. "The crop can be a good replacement for cereals as a rest crop. You can harvest it early, so you can then take other measures on your plot, such as sowing a green manure."
