The 2017 growing season is nearing its end. The plots with sowing and onion onions for the 2018 growing season are now changing. The majority of the plots look good, but in some places growth is still lagging behind.
The onion market is currently in injury time. The processing companies buy few additional onions and also find it increasingly difficult to find good onions. Prices are under heavy pressure. The quotations in Emmeloord amounts to €2 to €4 for the 30% to 60% large onions and €3 to €4,50 for the 60% large onions.
Area expansion
The onion area reaches a new record, according to the provisional acreage figures from Statistics Netherlands. The growth is mainly due to the expansion of the area of onion sets. That area will increase by 17% and is expected to reach 9.140 hectares. The sowing onion area, on the other hand, will shrink by 3,86%, bringing the total onion area to 35.200 hectares. This means that the area represents an increase of 0,8% compared to last year.
Sowing onions of new harvest
The plots of the plots vary greatly nationally. There is little to say about the state of affairs in sowing onions, because the important growing months (July and August) are still to come. In general, the plots look good, but there are also plots in the southwest of the country and in parts of Drenthe that suffered water damage during the extreme showers in May. Other plots, on the other hand, are still sparse and could use some water and other plots were sown late.
onion sets
The first winter onion sets brought in generally look good and have achieved a nice size. The plots with spring onion sets, just like the sowing onions, look very variable. Plots that cannot be irrigated in particular may suffer from drought.