Dutch Crop tour potato - week 15
Planting machines back on the land after rain
Now that the fields are getting lighter in color and the temperature is rising, the potato planters can run at full speed again. It is still on the wet side, but potato growers also see that the month of April has been cut in half. The growers of the Boerenbusiness Dutch Crop tour have started again.
The rain of recent weeks has ensured that many growers were able to keep their seed potatoes in the crate or big bag. The regional differences in precipitation are large. As a result, the planter is already driving at one grower, while it is still in the shed at the other. Potato grower Daan Goense from Driewegen (Z) was able to plant his first potato variety Markies before the rain. On Wednesday April 13, after a long wait, he could finally start on his next variety: Innovator.
The 7 hectare plot was fertilized last Monday and Goense was able to plant it within a day. The seed potatoes are cut from size 45 to 50 mm. "It was hard and dry on top, but it was still wet at the bottom. It wouldn't have been a bad idea to wait a while before planting, but we were already busy and the seed potatoes had already been cut," says Goense. Goense is more patient with the milling of the potato ridges. He thinks it is still too wet for that and waits until he has also planted his Challenger. Goense expects it will therefore take another week or two before the milling machine enters the country.
Goense would like to continue planting, but is still waiting for manure. Manure driving started again last Monday, but it is very busy for the contractors. Many planters in the Goense region are waiting in the shed until the land is supplied with manure.
Early start is half done
Potato grower Daan Janssen from Escharen (NB) has also started planting and wants to complete as many plots as possible now that the conditions are right. Its soil type varies from sandy soil to heavy loam. During this period he can only work on the light plots after the 50 millimeters of precipitation last week. Planting the Innovators is planned for next week. The seed potatoes are now heating up. Janssen has a total of 260 hectares of potatoes to plant, so he doesn't want to miss any days that can be planted.
Innovators before the rain
Jacco van Liere in Dronten (FL) planted his first Innovators before the rain on 24 March. After Easter, he wants to continue working in the potatoes and planting as many as possible, as long as the moisture on his plots allows. The potatoes have been under a blanket of snow in early April. After three weeks, the first germ is on the potato.
Robin Winter
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