Dutch Crop tour Weather
Does the precipitation live up to expectations?
The start of the season is bone dry and this week finally saw the first, long-awaited precipitation in weeks. Also the plots of the Boerenbusiness Crops craved water and many fields have already been irrigated. Do this week's millimeters live up to expectations?
The differences in the amount of precipitation are large. In the onion plots, we see Kortgene as an outlier with 13,2 millimetres. Tollebeek and Wezup got away with both 4,6 millimeters. Kortgene in Zeeland is close to the coast, which could explain this peak.
The number of millimeters that has fallen so far is a downer for many growers. Most hoped for more precipitation and saw a forecast of about 20 millimeters on various weather forecasts. This is disappointing to the growers, many of them do not expect to get this anymore.
Amount of precipitation on the onion fields (week 18)
| Plot | Number of mm precipitation |
| Kortgene | 13,2 millimeter |
| wezup | 4,6 millimeter |
| Kimswerd | 8,3 millimeter |
| Tollebeek | 4,6 millimeter |
| heijen | 8,8 millimeter |
| Ysselsteyn | 5 millimeter |
| Dronten | 6 millimeter |
| Average: | 8,4 millimeter |
source: Mention
The differences on the potato plots are slightly smaller. The most rain fell in Appelscha and Middenmeer with 10 millimeters. Hank got the least rain, there the meter stopped at 2,5 millimeters.
The growers hope for considerably more precipitation. What has fallen is not enough and dries up quickly. The growers are therefore curious whether enough moisture remains available for the potato.
The potato plot in Scharendijke in Zeeland has no access to irrigation and expected around 20 millimeters of precipitation at the beginning of this week. Only 5 millimeters of this has fallen. "We are currently milling after 3 millimeters had fallen. We hope that more precipitation will come this way, otherwise the potatoes will not get enough moisture."
Amount of precipitation on the potato plots (week 18)
| Plot | Number of mm precipitation |
| Dronten | 4,6 millimeter |
| Hank | 2,5 millimeter |
| Middenmeer | 10 millimeter |
| Fijnaart | 4,6 millimeter |
| Ens | 6,4 millimeter |
| Appelscha | 10 millimeter |
| Oldeholtwolde | - |
| Cuijk | 5 millimeter |
| Scharendijke | 5 millimeter |
| Someren | 6,5 millimeter |
| Average: | 4,1 millimeter |
Plots long for water
The potato and onion plots can use a lot of rain in the coming period. All onion plots have now been sown and several potato plots are ready or are still being planted. Due to the dry conditions, various onion plots were irrigated. The precipitation is more than welcome to provide the onions with moisture and to allow the last onions to germinate, as they could not be irrigated evenly due to strong winds.
The onions on the plot in Kortgene have not yet germinated or broken through in the heavier places in the plot. "Due to the precipitation, everything is now nicely in the moisture, the moisture is about 10 cm deep and I hope that the last seeds will now germinate", the grower says.
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
