Potato fields are increasingly asking for rain

The potato plots of the Gewastour need more and more precipitation, especially in the south of the country the soil is very dry. The growers of the plots in Cuijk, Hank and Fijnaart even state that they cannot harvest if there is no precipitation in the short term. In addition, you have to wait until the plot is completely dead.

In Cuijk (North Brabant) the potato plot was sprayed with Spotlight. "I wonder if this was still necessary, because there wasn't much left of the crop. But, now I have certainty that I can harvest the potatoes in about 2 weeks." The grower notes that it still has to rain. "At the moment it is much too dry on the plot. We have to irrigate our other plots as well."

The growers in Hank (North Brabant) and Fijnaart (North Brabant) also comment on this. Let the grower in Hank know that colleagues who are already harvesting (especially table potatoes) have to irrigate in order to be able to harvest at all. In Fijnaart the crop dies off evenly, but lifting has not yet started. "As good as the fluid balance was in the past weeks, it is so bad now."

On the plot in Scharendijke (Zeeland), due to the high temperatures, harvesting is only done in the morning. "I don't like the potatoes. They are nicely uniform and not too coarse." The fact that these 4 plots are experiencing drought is also apparent from the precipitation data† There was no rainfall at all on these plots last week.

Waiting for plot to die off
On the plots where drought is not an issue, especially the plots in the middle and north of the country, you have to wait. The plot in Dronten (Flevoland) was sprayed with Quickdown this week and the potato plot in Ens (Flevoland) has now also been sprayed to death. The 2 growers of these plots hope to be able to start harvesting within 14 days. In Middenmeer (North Holland) the plot with Innovators must naturally die.

Quickdown was also sprayed on the plot in Someren (North Brabant) this week and the grower hopes to spray Spotlight in 8 to 9 days. "They are still green. Now that the use of Reglone is no longer allowed, it is necessary to spray twice." While many other plots in the south of the Netherlands are struggling with extreme drought, the grower of the plot in Someren does not foresee any problems with grubbing.

Plot still too green
The only potato plot of the Boerenbusiness Crop tour that has not (yet) been treated with haulm killing is the plot in Appelscha (Friesland). "The plot is still about 70% green, which is why we are waiting a while with haulm killing," explains the grower. He does report that the underwater weight since the trial harvesting has fallen slightly as a result of precipitation: around 370 grams. In Dronten the underwater weight is around 390 grams and in Someren the underwater weights are between 360 and 390 grams.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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