'Searching for machines that suit us best'

organized for the sixth year in a row Boerenbusiness the crop tour. This year, too, we are following ten arable farmers throughout the Netherlands in the cultivation of chips potatoes of the Innovator variety. In this series of business reports, we introduce the entrepreneurs. This time: Ruud Steinbusch from Voerendaal (L).

Steinbusch is participating in the for the first year Boerenbusiness Crop tour. "Here in Limburg it is hilly, so we look more at similar areas than at the rest of the Netherlands". The entrepreneur has only chosen Innovator for the cultivation of French fries potatoes. Moreover, contract work is a large part of the company.

Therefore 21 business and personal questions to Ruud Steinbusch, participant in the Boerenbusiness Crop Tour Potatoes.

Which potato varieties are grown on the arable farm? 
"We only grow the Innovator variety, because we want to harvest earlier in the season. Here on the loess soil you only have four weeks to harvest."

What is the pre-crop for potato cultivation?
"We always try to have grains as pre-crop. It can happen once due to cropping plan changes that the pre-crop is sugar beet. After the grains have been grown, we try to sow yellow mustard as green manure."

What do you think is the most beautiful crop to grow on your farm?
"Actually, I think sugar beet cultivation is the most beautiful crop. They continue to grow all year round. The harvest of sugar beets is also more distributed over the season than the harvest of grains. The grain harvest has to be done within a shorter period and is more hectic. This is why I think the cultivation of sugar beets is the most beautiful crop. I can enjoy it more."

Are there any secondary activities on your farm besides arable farming?
"In addition to arable farming, the company is engaged in contract work, earthmoving, and the construction of windowpane plantations. We are also a depot for Agrifirm for grains and fertilizers. The contract work consists of planting/sowing up to and including harvesting the cultivation of grains, barley, rye, sugar beets, field beans and potatoes." 

Chopping or baling straw?
"I prefer to chop the straw, but I need the straw for the storage of my potatoes. We put the straw all around against the walls of the shed. This makes the straw have an insulating effect. I prefer to chop the straw to make humus and organic matter in the soil". 

What kind of tillage/fertilization is done at the front of the potato crop?
"We use NKG (Non-Inverting Soil Preparation) for the cultivation of potatoes. After harvesting wheat, we deep-disturb the soil. Then we sow a green manure crop such as yellow mustard. Before the potatoes are planted, we spread slurry. The potatoes are planted all-in-one".

Potatoes from your own company or potatoes from the supermarket?
"Potatoes from our own company, of course."

What is your crop protection strategy in potato cultivation?
"Together with the consultant, we make the crop protection plan. A decisive support system (BOS) is used for the phytophthora spraying. This determines when the spraying can best be carried out."

What are you proud of when you look at the company or cultivation?
"I am proud that we can run our arable farm and contracting company at this beautiful location. We are also proud of new crops such as field beans and sunflowers. In addition, investments have been made in recent years in a camera-controlled hoe and an eco-plough, so that we can see whether we can reduce the use of plant protection products".

What do you want to change/work towards in the coming years?
"We continue to develop new techniques, such as the aforementioned camera-controlled hoe and the eco-plough. We want to develop and continue to innovate, as an arable farming sector we cannot lag behind. Arable farming will always exist, I am convinced of that."

What profession would you have had if you had not become a farmer?
"The company was brought up with the young spoon. I used to do technical training, so it would have become something in the direction of a mechanic."

What is number 1 on your bucket list?
"I can't immediately come up with something I want to do again."

What has been the best choice/change in recent years at the company?
"In recent years, we have been increasingly looking for the machines that suit us best. That is why we have increasingly opted for German machines, in connection with the hilly environment. This is why we have opted for a ROPA beet harvester and potato harvester".

What activities are you most looking forward to during the year?
"When everything has been sown again and everything starts to grow. I think that is perhaps just as beautiful a period as the harvest. Each crop also has its own beautiful things. When I look at the point of view of the arable farm, the wheat harvest is a very nice period, but from a contracting point of view, the wheat harvest is a very stressful period with all the work. Is it still so much fun? It is very different from the beet harvest, which starts mid-September until the second week of December ."

Are the potatoes sold off the field or from storage?
"The potatoes are sold from short-term storage. We will start deliveries in week 4 or 5 of the new year. Before the fertilizer season starts, I want our warehouse to be empty. Then spring begins, we need our site for the trading fertilizer with Agrifirm."

What is the sales strategy of the products?
"By selling part of my potatoes on contract, I try to cover my cost price. I grow the rest of the potatoes freely or in the pool. This is our sales strategy."

French fries or boiled potatoes?
"French fries"

What do you see as the opportunities and threats for your company?
"There is a chance that agriculture will become more and more precision agriculture, in which you can specialize and continue to develop in it. I think the threat is increasingly calendar agriculture. Everything has to be finished at certain times." 

Can there be watering? If so, what strategy do you use?
"We only irrigate when it is really necessary. We try to keep the capillary action of the soil good. Actually, the driest years are the best years. We started irrigating in order to be able to harvest. We check as much as possible whether irrigating pays off. When it is necessary to irrigate, we do it entirely by feel".

What are your hobbies?
"My hobbies are absorbed by work. We sometimes want to go for a bike ride. But I just like to go for a round through the crops on a Sunday afternoon."

What is the reason you are participating in the Gewastour potatoes?
"We've been watching and following the Gewastour for years. Now I think if something is asked, we can also contribute."

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