Arable farmers are scrambling to complete their cropping plan for 2026. They're searching for a crop that guarantees a positive return. Or would you rather take a chance? Customers from various industries are also noticing that farmers are searching.
For many Dutch arable farmers, potatoes, grains, sugar beets, and often onions are staples in their crop rotations. There's usually still room for one or two additional crops. Especially now that sugar beet acreage is being reduced, farmers are left with land available for alternative crops. How can these be used most profitably? We'll outline several options.
In brief:
Cash crops: Potatoes and onions
It might be a logical first choice to consider potatoes and onions in the crop rotation plan. The current pressure on table potato cultivation is forcing growers to look further afield. Starch-based or seed potatoes could be an option, but that's only feasible for a select group of growers. In recent years, many seed potato growers have started growing more French fry potatoes, and it's possible that this trend will shift back somewhat, although the market for propagation material is also highly volatile and under pressure.
Onion cultivation in the Netherlands has been steadily growing for 25 years, from 13.990 to over 33.000 hectares. A growth of 135%. The acreage has grown significantly for four consecutive years. The question, therefore, is: How many more onions can be added? Currently, the onion market—especially compared to other crops—is still relatively positive, but that's no guarantee for the (near) future. Especially in traditional growing areas, the cropping plan is already full of onions, and there's hardly any room for expansion, not least due to disease pressure.
A more secure crop is industrial onions, usually second-year onions. At the largest buyer in the Netherlands (TOP), contracts for 2026 have decreased by €10 per ton, although the cost of the starting material is also rising. Those who manage to achieve a good yield can still achieve a good profit.
Grains: Low balance, beneficial for eco-activity and soil
Probably the most logical choice for many arable farmers, especially on clay soil, is sowing additional grains. While this likely won't yield a significant benefit, the risk is small and the costs are relatively low. It's not only beneficial for the soil but also for the ecological benefits of resting crops. Grass seed or rapeseed could also be an option, but those should have been sown last autumn.
A possible alternative is sowing a nitrogen-fixing crop such as beans, peas, or alfalfa. This is a popular choice, particularly in the southwest. A disadvantage is that the contracts are tied to grain prices, while the risk associated with cultivation is often higher. This also applies to canned goods, where contracts are also subject to price pressure. For example, for spinach, peas, and green beans. Contracts for herbs, such as parsley, have also largely been filled.
Not all buyers have it equally easy. Van Oers United in Dinteloord (operating under the trade name Primeale) grows several hundred hectares of Brussels sprouts in the southwest, but owner Scherpenhuizen will stop this in 2026. Contract farming of green beans was discontinued earlier. Growers in this area are thus losing some freedom of choice.
Commercial Crops: Searching for Contracts
Commercial or industrial crops are also largely contract-based. As with canned goods, prices are closely linked to wheat prices. Fiber flax has gained popularity throughout the Netherlands and has generated relatively good returns, as it's a low-input crop. However, that market is also becoming saturated because processing capacity, which is clustered in Belgium, is not increasing as rapidly as cultivation. Besides fiber flax, hemp is also on the list as a fiber crop, but there's little momentum in the bio-based sector, so sales of fiber crops remain very limited.
Corn is an alternative, especially on sandy soils, and also to grains in the crop rotation plan. The area under silage corn decreased this year to 184.000 hectares. The cultivation of grain corn and CCM/MKS has been under significant pressure for several years. Insiders are currently quoting contract prices of €1.600 to €1.700 per hectare for silage corn. Chicory could be an alternative, especially for sugar beets, but processor Sensus has significantly reduced its cultivation for next year, and the area was quickly allocated.
Eco-premium: choose fallow or nature
A non-food crop can be an alternative to a main crop, especially if it can elevate your farm from the Eco-Premium Bronze to Silver or Gold. Green fallow with, for example, clover, grass, or a leguminous green manure are some options. Whether this is worthwhile varies greatly from farm to farm. Local nature conservation organizations may still have opportunities for bird fields or nature margins, which, when converted to hectare balances, could generate considerable revenue. Arable farmers are particularly concerned about weeds infesting the land, since the fallow season also means that chemical crop protection is prohibited.
Finding profitable crops will be challenging for arable farmers in 2026. The returns are usually not comparable to those of their main crop, and the risks vary. One option remains unspecified: leasing. There remains a healthy demand for land rentals. Not just for potatoes and onions, but also for flower bulbs, field vegetables, or tree nurseries, to name a few. This offers perhaps the most security, while requiring no maintenance.
Region dependency
The best fit for your business depends heavily on the cultivation plan, the region, the soil type, and, of course, the choices you make as an entrepreneur. Location can play a significant role in sales contracts, especially in a year when buyers have plenty of choice and supply exceeds demand. Especially with smaller crops, there's a risk of markets becoming oversupplied and prices coming under further pressure. Think of celeriac or flax. It's not an easy task for arable farmers.