Milling is also possible after emergence

Now that the temperature is rising and it is drying hard, growers are finally getting the chance to get out on the land again. It had to be, because many potatoes are on the top while they have not been milled. How do potato growers deal with this?

The contrast is great this year between the potato plots: In the north of the Netherlands, not everyone is ready with potato legs and in other plots potatoes have been growing for some time. A major problem for potato growers is that not all potato ridges have been milled due to the wet month of May. The potatoes are regularly on top. This gives them another blow to deal with after this already difficult start to the growing season. 

Milling with an open hood
Milling after emergence disrupts the development of the potato plant. There are virtually no alternatives where you barely touch the plant, but still get good ridges. To touch the plants as little as possible, you can mill without caps or open caps. A grower also advises to think about the speed of the milling, so that as few stems as possible break.

'Plants damaged less and leaves catch light'
At the Gewastour plot in Dronten, the plants were already well above the back. Jacco van Liere barely touched the plants due to the milling with an open hood and without a shaft. "Normally you get nice, tight ridges and this is more in the direction of ridging, but I am not disappointed how it turned out in the end. The plants are at least less damaged. Most of the plants have also remained on top and the leaves are growing. This way is still light. I think that is a big advantage," says Van Liere, who also did a bit of milling on the same plot using the normal working method. "That way we can check later in the season whether it has helped."

Jesse Torringa

Jesse is an editor at Boerenbusiness and focuses in particular on the arable farming sector, including grain and onions. He also closely follows the fertilizer market. In addition, Jesse works on an arable farm in Groningen with seed potatoes as the main branch.

j.torringa@boerenbusiness. Nl

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