Farmers hope to be able to go on the land after Easter

After a wet March, the first spring work has started. The first plots of the Gewastour are worked and fertilized in order to sow the first onions after Easter. Due to last month's rainfall, the onion sowing has slowed down quite a bit compared to other years.

Now that the sun is showing itself more and more after a rainy month of March, growers can slowly start thinking about spring. This week the growers are mainly busy - where the wet soil allows - spreading fertilizer and spraying their crops. They hope to be able to go out into the country after Easter as soon as the weather permits.

Spring work is slowly getting underway
It looks like the difference in sowing time of the onions between the north and south of the Netherlands will remain minimal. Perhaps at the same time, because the first onions are being sown on the sandy soils in the north. This is also the case on the sand in Limburg. Planting potatoes is not yet an issue. It will be a completely different spring compared to previous years, according to the growers.

In Noord-Beverland at onion grower Klaas Jan Boer from Kortgene (ZL) it is still quiet on the land. "On Wednesday, April 5, I sprayed the plots where the onions and sugar beets will be planted. The Polysulfate was spread at the beginning of March. Because I work with fixed driving paths, the rutting was not too bad, despite the fact that the subsoil is still quite wet. At the moment (Thursday) it's raining again so it's going to be a quiet Easter." When he will be able to lower the seeder, the question remains. "We hope to be able to do something after Easter, but that doesn't seem likely. After Easter they also give off precipitation. Last year we sowed the onions at the end of March and this year it will be a lot later."

Tempo on the sand in Drenthe
Where it is a bit busier on land, is on the sandy soil in Wezup (Dr). Onion grower Arjen Jakobs has started sowing there. It is not the parcel of onions with which Jakobs participates in the Gewastour. Arjen has agreed with the contractor to sow the Gewastour plot next Thursday after Easter. "I hope to sow the plot on Thursday if the rain isn't too bad. We prepare the seedbed with the spading machine. After spading, we immediately press the soil to maintain the connection with the subsoil. The rain they deliver before Easter does not have to be not bad for the sown plot of onions. Thanks to the precipitation, the onions immediately get a nice connection with the subsoil."

It is also quiet in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen at potato grower Brain Salome from IJzendijke (ZL). "It's raining again. The outlook for next week is also a few millimeters every day, unfortunately. As a result, I don't have to think about potato legs yet." There is also plenty of other work to do before the potato planter starts making progress. "Yesterday the plots were burnt down for the onions and sugar beets. The sowing of the onions and sugar beets still has to be done first. It could just be that potato plants will be in early May. That is a lot later than last year, when I had already sown all my onions and sugar beets and even planted my first potatoes."

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