Crop tour Herman Schlepers
'Consumers have to pay higher costs'
De Boerenbusiness This year, Gewastour is following ten plots with the French fries potato variety Innovator. The participating growers take us with them from potato planting to harvest and the decisions in cultivation. In this series of company reports we introduce them. In the fourth part: Herman Schlepers from Dronten (Fl).
If you drive a large round through the Flevopolder to view the state of the crops and vast fields, you will automatically come across Dronten. An area where the first pioneers only came to live in 1962 after the reclamation of the polder. Slightly south of Dronten, the arable farm of the Schlepers family has been operating since 1966. Using a great deal of knowledge, the partnership grows its chips potatoes and other crops on the long and straight plots.
Herman Schlepers and his sons Rien and Mathijs (photo) grow about 110 hectares of crops on the light to heavy silt, with 20 hectares of chips potatoes as the main branch. In addition, there are other crops such as 25 hectares of wheat, 15 hectares of chicory, 15 hectares of carrots, 12 hectares of onions and 15 hectares of tulips.
Originally, this type of soil was a lot heavier, but now everything has been deep plowed except for a single plot. In addition to its own cultivation, the company has a partnership with the agricultural company Jan Bakker. Schlepers monitors and advises on various crops at the company. Together with his sons and the two self-propelled sprayers, they keep the crops healthy and disease-free at both companies.
'You have to learn to grow an innovator'
The company's main branch is the cultivation of French fries. The most important varieties on the own farm as well as on the Jan Bakker farm are Agria and Innovator. Schlepers is clear about the choice of these varieties. He mainly focuses on the market and has been growing the Innovator variety on the farm for more than 10 years. As a result, he has a lot of knowledge about this variety: "You have to learn to grow an Innovator. We score well with the variety, which you should not grow on too heavy soil. Heavy clay soil is not ideal in my opinion".
Yields lagged somewhat behind in previous years and can still be slightly lower in kilograms than other varieties, explains Schelpers. "But the variety also yields a bit more financially, so that cancels out. For a good yield you have to pamper the Innovator a bit more. You have to be careful with your soil and generously fertilize at the start of the season Not only nitrogen, but also boron, calcium, manganese and more trace elements. For example, we spray extra Boron before milling. You will be too late at the end of May or towards June. Add the right pre-fruit such as wheat and we will get a good proceeds".
Crops require more attention
Schlepers indicates that they want to continue farming at this level. Growing in size is not the most important thing, certainly not with the very scarce availability of land and prices: "We really want to improve everything we do on the farm. We have to look for it and that is our aim". The changes in arable farming in recent years also play a major role in this, he explains. Due to these changes, various crops require more attention and time, but also a different package of knowledge. Son Rien has a number of plots being converted to organic in order to achieve a higher balance.
In terms of disease pressure, Schlepers and his sons have the crops under control in his crop plan. This was also the case last year, when they managed to keep the seed onions and potatoes healthy despite the high disease pressure in the region. We are in for an exciting time. "To properly care for a crop, you need a well-stocked toolbox with crop protection products. Because the package of products is getting smaller, this is becoming increasingly difficult. It is no longer obvious that a cultivation with a good yield is completed. We see the coming years with chicory weeds can become a challenge, we are already seeing a drop in yields with sugar beets," says Schlepers.
He continues: "In any case, the cost price will rise considerably, especially if the Brussels Green Deal plans are also imposed on us. Ultimately, the consumer will have to pay for this, so get used to this vision of the future. Fortunately, there is still a livestock farm in the Netherlands, which this year was able to replace some of the expensive fertilizer with the organic fertilizer.”
Store 2.0
Schlepers' company has sufficient storage facilities to store both the potatoes and onions. The Amora variety, which is grown at the Jan Bakker company, is sold off the field, because it is an early variety and unsuitable for long storage. The Agria and Innovator varieties are all saved. The aim is to store the potatoes until at least May. At the base is an MH spray. Only harvest when the crop has died off well. Due to the new sprout inhibitors, storage requires a different approach. Air exchange based on CO2 content. Keep the shed closed for a better effect of these products. Mechanical cooling is simply necessary for longer storage until August. There is also a clear cost increase here.
Robin Winter
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