Brought to you by Limagrain
'Supplying feed barley in a short chain to livestock farmers'
Jelle de With, arable farmer in Zeijen, is growing winter barley instead of winter wheat for the first time this year. "The early harvest of barley suits us well, so that we can sow tagetes in time to combat nematodes," says De With, who grows the winter barley variety LG Zorica. A variety with a high yield potential, also on light soils such as in Drenthe.
In 2024, Maatschap De With moved from Flevoland to Zeijen in Drenthe, northwest of Assen. "My father is retired and I wanted to continue with arable farming in Drenthe," says Jelle de With. "2025 is our second growing year here. There is a big difference in soil type with the polder, where crops always grow well on sea clay. Here on sandy soil it is very different."
Choice of barley
De With deliberately chooses winter barley instead of winter wheat, because he can harvest barley earlier. The crop rotation is: winter barley - tagetes - onions or tulips - sugar beets - seed potatoes - winter barley. "With a smart crop plan, we want to keep our crops as healthy as possible. We can harvest winter barley at the end of June or the beginning of July, which means we can sow tagetes in time to combat the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Combating this nematode is very important, because root lesion nematodes can multiply strongly on sandy soil in our next crop of onions and can then cause a lot of damage", says De With. "And we obviously want to prevent that." For effective combating with tagetes, this crop must be in the field for at least one hundred days. "That only works with timely sowing, because tagetes dies at the first night frost. Sowing tagetes is not cheap, so you want the cultivation to be successful. Then you know for sure that it will continue to work against root lesion nematodes for a few years and that is also beneficial for the yield of our seed potatoes."
Extra nitrogen space
In early November 2024, the Drenthe arable farmer sowed 11 hectares of winter barley of the LG Zorica variety. "I chose this variety on the advice of my cultivation advisor from Van Iperen," says De With. Two years ago, Limagrain introduced the Zorica variety, the new yellowing virus-resistant variety with a high yield. "In the 2023/24 season, Zorica had the second highest yield of all tested winter barley varieties in the SPNA variety study in Ebelsheerd, with 14,2 tonnes per hectare. It was 6% higher than the average," says Martijn van Overveld, Limagrain's arable farming product manager. "And winter barley is more drought-tolerant than winter wheat. On sandy soil, that is certainly an advantage."
In March 2025, 150 kilos of KAS sulphur were fertilised, or 80 kilos of pure nitrogen as standard. "And in early April, 20 cubic metres of cattle manure per hectare were applied using the drag hose fertiliser for better tillering of the barley," says De With, who also sees an advantage in the lower N requirement of winter barley compared to winter wheat. "Barley only needs 180 kilos of N, while you have to give wheat 220 to 245 kilos of N per hectare. That provides extra nitrogen space for other crops."
Harvesting yourself is fun
The Drenthe grower has also used a stalk shortener or growth regulator. "That ensures a higher yield and less risk of lodging. I have only sprayed once with a fungicide. In winter wheat, that is necessary more often. With barley, I save on fungicide use." The crop is currently doing well, with nice full grains. De With therefore expects a good yield. Partly thanks to irrigation once during a dry spell in the second week of May, just when the stalk was coming in. "Around the end of June or the beginning of July, I will harvest the barley. I bought an old combine for that, because I like to do the harvest myself. I really enjoy that work and that is why I became a farmer." De With is still looking for a buyer for his feed barley. "I would prefer to deliver the barley to a cattle farmer in our area. Feed barley is good cow feed and is less quickly added to the ration than feed wheat. I think sales in a short chain is best for us, but also for a cattle farmer who can make good use of extra 'concentrates' and straw."
Meeting the rest crop obligation with winter barley
Winter barley is a relatively simple and reliable crop that requires less nitrogen and crop protection products than winter wheat. On sandy and loess soils, a catch crop is required after the cultivation of maize and ware potatoes. Winter barley is also an ideal catch crop when harvesting these crops after 1 October, with which growers meet the obligation under the Nitrates Directive Action Plan to reduce nitrogen losses to groundwater and surface water. The winter barley then counts as the main crop on that plot in the following calendar year, with which a grower simultaneously meets the rest crop obligation. Choosing barley varieties that are tolerant to the yellowing virus is important, because that limits crop damage and increases the yield.
