August a drowned, but growing month

The large amounts of precipitation with moderate temperatures have led to very fertile weather for potatoes and onions in recent weeks. At the same time, the precipitation and sometimes high humidity presented challenges in crop protection. Despite the efforts and extra working hours, growers had a hard time maintaining the quality of the crops.

The changeable weather of July continued into August, so last month had a soaking wet start. In the end, an average of 107 millimeters of precipitation fell in August, much more than the long-term average of 83 millimeters (KNMI). In the first two weeks of the month in particular, persistent rainfall prevented growers from threshing wheat, particularly in the center and north of the country. Shot was abundant in wheat that had been rooted to the ground for weeks. In between showers, threshing was sometimes possible (or sometimes not at all). All in all, it didn't help the average quality.

Phytophthora pressure
Phytophthora also raged wildly in the potatoes due to the changeable weather. It led to a very high phytophthora pressure, with the infestations being observed as early as July. Even when a dry period started in mid-August, the fungus remained active. Due to temperatures between 10 degrees and 25 degrees and long leaf wet periods, the potato disease remained in its legs.

There are several areas throughout the Netherlands where precipitation exceeded 150 millimeters in the past month, such as in Zeeland and the east of the Netherlands. Only in the north has on average slightly less precipitation, according to weather data from the KNMI. There were hardly any major problems in plots due to the high or heavy rainfall, although water damage is now visible in several areas due to the total amount of millimeters.

Success formula for growing weather 
We can actually speak of typical Dutch summer weather: precipitation with moderate summer temperatures, wind and some sunshine in between. In addition, the mercury never rose above 30 degrees in the past month. For comparison: last year the temperature gauge rose seven times over 30 degrees. The typical Dutch summer weather extended the strong crop growth, which only started in July this year after a prolonged drought. Both the potatoes and onions have gained quite a few kilos and are there still above average green. The onions are still growing well now, growers who participate in the Boerenbusiness Crop tour on and ironing later than in other years. Which is not surprising, given the later sowing dates. But that does not make up for the backlog that the crop has incurred at the start, is the unanimous answer. 

The average temperature in August was 17,6 degrees. This is 0,3 degrees lower than the average month of August. 

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