'Want to keep onions as long as we want'

organized for the sixth year in a row Boerenbusiness the crop tour. Also this year we follow ten arable farmers throughout the Netherlands in the cultivation of yellow seed onions. In this series of business reports, we introduce the entrepreneurs. This time: Reinder Hogenhout from Kimswerd (FR).

Reinder Hogenhout has been participating in the Gewastour with his company in the Frisian Kimswerd for several years now. In addition to the arable farm, Hogenhout also sells crop protection products and advises growers on crop protection, fertilizers and sowing seeds.

Therefore 20 business and personal questions to Reinder Hogenhout, Participant in the Boerenbusiness Crop tour Onions.

Which onion varieties are you growing this year?
"This season I am growing the yellow onion varieties Hyroad and Hybound and the red onion Red Ray. We mainly grow these varieties for storage. Of course you also have to create earliness, but with the properties of good hardness and skin firmness. It is important to keep the onions keep it for as long as you want and not until the quality allows."

What do you think is the most beautiful crop to grow?
"All crops have advantages and disadvantages. I like different crops, but to make a hard statement about what the most beautiful crop is..... Then I think onions and carrots. I like the harvest of onions and carrots better than the potato digging. I don't really like digging potatoes. There is always something, too dry or too wet, you name it. The onions and carrots are really still free trade and you put a minimal amount of seed in the ground and ultimately see how much product can be harvested from it. I find that very special."

Are there any side activities on your farm besides arable farming?
"In addition to the arable farm, we sell crop protection products and advise growers in the field of crop protection, fertilizers and seeds. My father and I do that. An employee is also responsible for the distribution of the products."

Chopping or baling straw?
"Chopping, because actually the soil comes first. The goal is to leave nothing behind and simply supply maximum organic matter. Improving the soil is not just chopping straw, but also grading, drainage, spreading gypsum and compost and sowing green manures . I don't have to think twice about whether I'm going to bale straw."

What kind of tillage/fertilization is done for onion cultivation?            
"The main tillage for the cultivation of onions is spading with a crankshaft spader. After the potato harvest, the plot is loosened with a subsoiler, so that we can go on it in the autumn. In October or November we can dig the plot for winter furrow. We dig the soil 20 á 25 cm deep, then the soil is nice and flat and loose. Then in the spring work it with a double rotary harrow and we can sow the onions nicely in the solid subsoil. In the row we fertilize phosphate in granular form. The nitrogen enters once through the coated urea. The potash comes partly before sowing and partly during the season."

French fries or boiled potatoes?
"Boiled potatoes, French fries are nice, but I don't have to have them every day."

What is the onion crop protection strategy?
"In any case, use green products company-wide where green is possible. Where it has to be chemical, we use chemical. We also use green crop protection in onions for disease and insect control. I do use chemical products for weed control. In the onions I'm definitely not going to harrow or hoe. I see it in other crops such as wheat. I do a lot of harrowing there. I don't see it in the onions to get started with mechanical weed control."

What are your hobbies?
"My hobbies are doing fun things with friends or going on holiday in the winter."

What are you proud of when you look at the company or cultivation?         
"I am most proud of how the company is doing now. We have grown quite a bit in recent years. My father started with nothing 40 years ago. I am proud of my father how he developed the company and how he did it ."

What has been the best choice/change on the farm in recent years?
"Soil improvement and soil under the company. Of course you have to start with soil, but you have to upgrade the heavy, difficult soil to be able to grow onions and carrots. Then you have made another step."

What is number 1 on your bucket list?
"What should I answer to this question? I really don't know."

What activities are you most looking forward to during the growing season?            
"I always like the onion harvest. That's a good time of year to harvest a nice crop."

Potatoes from your own company or potatoes from the supermarket?
"If you grow table potatoes, of course, potatoes from your own company. Then you can't buy potatoes from the supermarket."

What is the sales strategy of the products?
"Basically out of storage, but if it suits or doesn't fit in storage, the onions leave the country. We grow all onions freely and there is no real strategy behind it, but we do try to spread. When we are satisfied with the price, even if it is December or June, the onions will go away. We want to be able to store the onions for a long time to wait for a good moment."

What occupation would you have had if you had not been a farmer?
"Cultivation advisor or contract worker, one of the two. I'm already a partial crop advisor, but then it would have been full-time."

What do you see as the opportunities and threats for your company?
"I think we have quite a chance in the future with the extensive rotation. As a result, we can continue to grow onions and carrots of good quality, while also maintaining soil health. In any case, we are in a good corner of the Netherlands in terms of availability of fresh water and skilled soil."

Can the onions be irrigated? If so, what is the strategy you use?
"We can irrigate the onions with surface water. We have an AgroExact sensor, but to be honest, we still do the irrigation purely by feel. As soon as we think the crop needs water, we get to work. This season we will also experiment with drip irrigation in a number of plots of seed onions."

Sun holiday or winter sports?
"Oh sun anyway. I hate winter and snow. In winter I prefer to be around the equator or in the southern hemisphere, far away in a place where it is nice and warm."

What is your reason for participating in the Onion Crop Tour?
"I always like to hear, learn or watch something from someone else. I do find it interesting to exchange information and get together during the season. And thereby gain knowledge and get to know other people ."

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