Grower likes to sow himself
Carefully start sowing sugar beets
In week 12 sugar beets were sown sporadically. This is 2 percent of the total area. This is reported by Suiker Unie. This brings the total sowing to 4 percent. Sowing work is expected to really start this week.
The IRS Beet Statistics show that East Brabant leads the way with regard to the sowing of the beet acreage. More than 7 percent is now in the ground there. The northern clay area is in second place with 6 percent, just above Zeeuws Vlaanderen. At the start of this week, most of the seed still had to be sown in East and South Flevoland. Only 0,7 percent was in the ground there.
7
procent
Average sowing date
It is likely that the average sowing date this season will be earlier than in 2016. It was very late then, with April 10 as the average. A big contrast with, for example, 2011. Then the average sowing date was 24 March. The spread between sowing dates per region was also large last year. There were 21 days between the earliest and latest regions.
The sowing capacity is enormous, according to the figures. In the past, the area sown has sometimes increased by 50 percent in one week. Where sowing is not possible, farmers are busy with other fieldwork for cultivation, such as main tillage, seedbed preparation, spreading fertilizer or injecting slurry.
Beet grower likes to sow himself
Suiker Unie believes that about half of all sugar beet is sown by the growers themselves, using their own machines. The other half is accounted for by contractors. In Flevoland, 80 percent sow their own beets. A big difference with the northeast of the country, where three quarters of the sowing work is carried out by contractors.
April 1
The IRS warns growers who have already sown against mice. The first damage has now been caused on early plots. In the first night after sowing, mice can already cause feeding damage. The IRS also has a solution for those who do not have LLBs, but still want to grow beets. Sugar beets in the AH vegetable gardens. With that, it is preparing for April 1.
Also read this article: Sugar beet largest growth crop for arable farmers† Are you more interested in the developments around arable farming? Then take a Arable farming Pro subscription.
Niels van der Boom
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