Finally. Growers get to work in fits and starts

Not one year is the same, which makes the amount of precipitation that fell in April clear. Due to a wet March and an even wetter month of April, little land work has been completed compared to previous years. Every grower can now be found in the country, but it remains on the (too) wet side.

The wettest April since 1998 is clearly being felt in the agricultural Netherlands, including in the Potatoes and Onions Crop Tour. No Innovator poter has yet gone into the ground on the participating plots. In addition, the onions were sown a lot later than usual. Some growers still have to sow and think of the slogan 'onions in May is leek'. An average of 80 millimeters in April is almost twice as much precipitation as the usual 43 millimeters. Even now that it is drying up, growers notice that the soil is moister than you think if you look purely at the top layer.

Few potatoes have still been planted this season, as the Gewastour shows. The first potato growers can now be found in the country, but not yet on the Gewastour plots. Last weekend could  Ruud Steinbusch from Voerendaal (Limburg) finally started. Also Brian Salome from IJzendijke (Zeeland) has started planting. He applies NKG to his plots.

Many growers still have a lot of work to do and that puts pressure on the kettle, especially with the Gewastour onions. However, the ground is by no means always competent, but sometimes the least bad conditions end up being the best in the season. What is striking is that the top of the soil has dried well and has a typical gray colour, but that the area below is still very wet. 

The onion plots of the Gewastour have now almost all been sown. The last plots will hopefully be sown before the expected rainfall for next weekend. Late on Tuesday evening (May 2), the plot in Zeewolde (Flevoland) was also sown. 

April temperature below average
What also plays a role is the temperature this spring. With an average of 8,7 degrees, April was slightly lower than in 2022 and 1,2 degrees lower than average. It has remained relatively cold throughout the month, with a few warmer days that can be counted on one hand. Growers notice that in some cases the soil is still quite cold. This can also be seen in the growth of some onion plots.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.