Roughage tour fodder beets
Dutch weather does fodder beets good
After 3 dry years it can be said that we have a real Dutch summer again. In this case, the combination of heat and water ensures that the fodder beets do well for the participants in the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour.
The amount of water and enough heat not only benefit the grass and maize, but also ensures that the fodder beet grows well. This year there are 4 Roughage Tour dairy farmers who grow fodder beets and all 4 do so on sandy soil. "Adequate moisture is especially important on sandy soil, because the capillary effect on clay is simply better," says Antoon Verhoeven, roughage specialist in the Southwest of the Netherlands.
However, the fodder beet can withstand drought well because of the taproot that can root up to 150 centimeters deep. "In extreme heat and persistent drought, the fodder beets also go into a siesta, but after the night has passed, the leaves are often good again the next morning," adds Verhoeven. A field of fodder beet is therefore quicker to the alarm after a shower than, for example, the grassland.
The Brabant dairy farmer Joost van Nostrum from Sint-Oedenrode is one of the participants growing fodder beets this year. ''Where we had already watered the beets twice last year, luckily that is not necessary this year. The fodder beets are looking to our full satisfaction'', says Van Nostrum. The photo below shows that the fodder beets are doing well.
Erik van der Deure
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