Dutch Crop tour Week 40
How did the potatoes get off the land?
Most plots of the Crop Tour Potatoes were cleared last week. Where do the yields come from and how is the quality? The growers who have not yet removed all the potatoes from the land, keep a close eye on the weather reports. They have to wait for that one dry moment between showers.
On the plot in Middenmeer (North Holland), the harvesting process was completed fairly smoothly last week. The weather conditions were good, although the grower had to irrigate before he could harvest. "Not so much because it was too dry, but I didn't want to run any risks if the weather suddenly changed," explains the grower. The yield is around 60 tons per hectare net. That's a lot more than in the trial harvesting, because that resulted in a result of 49,9 tons. "The underwater weight is low at 360 grams, which is a point of attention."
Satisfied with yields
Also in Ens (Flevoland) the potatoes have all arrived and the grower is satisfied with the result. "The yield is close to the result from the last trial harvest: around 57 tons net. I don't know the exact underwater weight. The other plots come out at approximately 380 grams, so I expect that for the Crop Tour plot as well. in general the potatoes look good, in terms of quality," says the grower.
On the plot in Someren (North Brabant), the net yield is no less than 80 tons. "We are of course very satisfied with that. The quality is also good and the potatoes have a nice size," reports the potato grower. The underwater weight is 364 grams, which is equal to the result in the trial harvesting. "We then sprayed the potatoes to death."
In Cuijk (North Brabant) the yield was higher than during the last trial grubbing-up. This resulted in a yield of 54,7 tons, but in the end a net yield of 59 tons was harvested. "That is a good result for the Innovator variety." The underwater weight on this plot came to 375 grams, which is slightly lower than the 390 grams that emerged during the trial harvesting.
Scharendijke (Zeeland) is also satisfied with the results. The yield is approximately 50 tons, with an underwater weight of more than 400 grams. "Although it was a bit too dry to harvest and the potatoes are sensitive to blue due to the high underwater weight and have suffered damage, I am satisfied. After all, we are talking about a field that has not been rained on. In retrospect I am also glad that we harvested, because Looking at the weather now, I'm afraid it would have taken a while."
Waiting for the weather
The latter is an issue in Dronten (Flevoland), because harvesting is still taking place there at the moment. "It is a matter of keeping a close eye on the weather reports. Fortunately, we are not on very heavy clay, so that we can still harvest between showers. I expect the plot to be empty in half a day." The yield seems to be good. "If I look at the contents of the tipper and cell, I expect a yield that may even exceed the result of the trial harvest (almost 63 tons)."
In Hank (North Brabant) the plans have literally fallen into the water due to the weather conditions. "We wanted to start harvesting the Crop Tour plot early next week, but that won't be the case anymore. As soon as the weather is good, we want to start harvesting. We just have to keep a close eye on the weather."
Kimberly Baker
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