Dutch Crop tour potatoes - week 4
First Innovators planted, but rain continues to hinder
The first Innovators are in the ground among the participants in the Boerenbusiness Crop tour, but the heavy rainfall continues to play tricks on them. This week, potato growers hope to make progress, but in the south that will probably not be easy.
After a very short period in mid-April, a lot more potato planters could be found in the country again last week. The first seedlings of this season were planted from north to south, but there were no really good conditions yet. The ground was just beginning to look like something when more precipitation fell. Many growers were also busy with crops other than potatoes; sowing onions, sugar beets and grain was preferred given the time of year.
Paws without difficulties
Potato grower Daan Tap was able to plant his Gewastour plot in Elst, Gelderland. Driving conditions seemed good and it showed once they got going. "The potato planting actually went really well. There was little visible of the wet, which wasn't too bad for me. We had one small wet spot in the field that I still can't explain. It was never a spray trail or anything like that. The planting machine sank about 20 centimeters there."
Tap received his Innovators in the size range he had in mind and was able to finish planting his entire plot before the rain fell. The seed potatoes were fairly germinative, he says. "The seed potatoes had only been inside for about three weeks and had arrived cold. I also blew them cold and the seed potatoes still wanted to germinate properly."
After the Crop Tour plot, Tap had started to plant another plot, but unfortunately it was rained out there. The precipitation was quite localized and amounted to several millimeters. "We received 20 millimeters of water and the next day another 12, so a good 30 millimeters in total. Another plot further away from us where the onions are grown, even received 45 millimeters. Fortunately, I didn't see any water anywhere between the potatoes. There were only a few marks on the onions, but that wasn't too bad." Tap hopes that the soil will allow him to continue growing potato legs next Friday.
Potatoes have also been planted in Dronten (Flevoland) by potato grower Adriaan Wortman, but otherwise the meters that potato growers have made during the Crop Tour are disappointing. After the heavy rainfall last week, the south of the Netherlands also had showers again this week. Rain fell again on the night from Monday to Tuesday, sometimes up to 20 millimeters, causing spring work to be postponed for the umpteenth time. Potato grower Brian Salomé from Ijzendijke (Zeeland) reports that a total of almost 50 millimeters has already fallen this month. He has not yet been able to plant potatoes and hopes to do so this weekend or early next week. "It is very wet here after the rain. Today (Wednesday morning, May 8) we have some drizzle again and it does not dry under these conditions," says Salomé.
Also in Hellevoetsluis (South Holland), where the Gewastour plot of potato grower Kees Trouw is located, 31 millimeters have already fallen since May, according to the AgroExact weather station. It remained a lot drier in the north. Only 7 millimeters fell this month at potato grower René Mesken in Appelscha, Friesland. In the north, the planting machines are already in operation in the fields. Several growers hope to still make progress this weekend, even if things don't go as well as hoped. The weather forecast is currently calling for precipitation again for next week.
Jesse Torringa
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