The plots of seed onions participating in the Boerenbusniness Gewastour were sown on average almost a month later than last year. The average sowing date is April 24. The growers have used the few suitable moments to sow the onions.
It was clear that the seed onions were sown later this year than usual. Due to the wet conditions this spring, sowing the onions was anything but easy. The soil was barely capable of seeding, but time was running out.
Almost a month later than in 2021 and 2022
Last season, March 28 was the average sowing date for the Gewastour plots. In that period after sowing, crust formation occurred and the growers had to irrigate, weed or remove the crust with a scab breaker. Also compared to 2021, the average sowing date is almost a month later. Then it was March 31.
There are also major regional differences in the sowing time of this year. The plots of the Gewastour are not fully representative for the whole of the Netherlands in terms of average sowing date, but they do give a clear indication.
| Region | Sowing dates | Average sowing date 2023 |
| Noord | April 14 - May 4 | April 21 |
| Middle | April 21 - May 4 | April 30 |
| South | Apr 19 - Apr 21 | April 20 |
South traditionally in the past
This year, onion sowing in the south was on average earlier than in the rest of the Netherlands, but considerably later than normal. The onions there often go into the ground from March, this time only after mid-April. The first Gewastour plot was not sown in the south, but in Wezup on April 14 on the sandy soil of Drenthe. The first onions on clay in the Northern Netherlands were sown a week later on April 19 in Eenrum (Groningen). The difference in the north and south of the Netherlands is not great this year. The center of the Netherlands was a lot later than the rest of the Netherlands.
The last plots to be sown were the plots in Dronten, Beemte Broekland and Kimswerd, sown on 4 May. The reason that the plot in Kimswerd was sown later than the plot in Eenrum (April 19) is because of the heavy rainfall at the beginning of April in Northwest Friesland.
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