Potato growers will remain indoors until mid-April

Last week's precipitation poses no threat to the Innovator plots, because there is still plenty of time. Most of the plots have already been fertilized and the soil can still buffer precipitation well.

The plot in Scharendijke (Zeeland) was fertilized on Saturday, March 2, with 30 cubic meters of pig slurry, with tall fescue (green manure sprayed on the plot) providing the necessary carrying capacity. On many other plots it is not possible to apply liquid manure in the spring. The chance of the top layer smearing, causing structural damage, is too great.

On the plots where this was the case, fertilization took place in the autumn. Into the crop tour plots Escharen (Brabant) and Voorst (Gelderland) will be fertilized shortly before planting.

Precipitation distribution
The spread in precipitation amounts is almost the same on most plots: around 40 millimeters. The heavier clay plot in Dronten (Flevoland) had to withstand 24 to 25 millimeters in 30 hours. Only in Voorst is it expected to exceed 50 millimeters precipitation fallen. There will soon be a weather pole on all plots, so that the current amount of precipitation can be followed live.

Last year the planting work took 2 weeks to complete. The participants of the Boerenbusiness Crop tour does not expect any delays this year. "There will be little activity on the plots before April 15, last year the late-planted plots also showed a relatively high yield," several participants report.

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