Crop tour potato - week 16
Potato legs is fun this spring
Now that most of the sowing work has been completed, the potato planters are working overtime. The spring weather is showing itself more, although there are no really high temperatures. For that reason, some growers are not in a hurry to plant, others have been busy for a week. The first Innovators have now been planted on the Crop Tour plots.
Due to the precipitation of early April in combination with the low temperature, the potato planting did not start very quickly. The conditions for planting are now favorable and this is reflected in the plots. A lot of work is being done in both the north and the south of the Netherlands, although it remains to be seen on heavier soils due to the wet soil.
First Crop Tour potato plots a fact
The first crop of the Crop Tour was partly planted at the end of March. The field in Dronten has taken on the cold of early April and is showing little growth. The plot has now been completely planted with seed size 45/50 and a planting distance of 29,5 centimetres.
The other plot in the Dronten area was planted last weekend. Jacco van Liere runs a lot of capacity with his system: "We plant in 2 working passes, born from seed potato cultivation. The planter never suffers from a lesser structure and can always drive at the same speed, so we always maintain the same capacity."
The speed at which Van Liere drives depends on the seed potato size and planting distance, he explains. "With consumption potatoes and a planting distance of 32 centimeters, we drive about 7 km per hour. With seed potatoes, the planting distance is 16 centimeters and we drive 5 km per hour." The ground falls nicely and the ridge milling is also a lot easier than last year.
In Escharen (North Brabant), Daan Janssen has been working with potato legs for some time. Now that the early potato varieties are in it, it is the turn of the Crop Tour plot. The plot was planted last Friday (April 16) with seed size 35/45 at a distance of 32 centimeters. During ridging, scoops are used at the back of the ridging hood (see photo). By making small thresholds, rainwater is better retained.
The other participants of the Crop Tour are also busy on the fields. The last sowing seed goes into the ground and plots are prepared for the potatoes. At Rene Mesken in Appelscha (FR), this resulted in beautiful images.
No early growing season
The end of April is approaching and while most have started, there is still a lot to do. Due to the mild spring weather, the growing season is already somewhat delayed and that is what it seems. given the weather forecast, not soon to change. Despite staying dry, the temperature doesn't change much. In the north it will not be warmer than 9 degrees this week. The south of the Netherlands is 14 degrees warmer, but at night the mercury drops to freezing point. This excludes an early growing season.
Jesse Torringa
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