Crop tour weather - week 18
Heavy showers ravage plots, damage uncertain
The wet period continues to thwart spring work. This time there were extremely heavy showers that sometimes brought a month's worth of precipitation in a short period of time in various areas, mainly the south of the Netherlands. The exact damage is difficult to say at the moment, as a large part has only just been sown or planted by the growers.
Things were particularly bad in the south of the Netherlands since Thursday afternoon. Heavy (thunder) showers including hail entered Limburg from the southeast and moved painfully slowly to the west and northwest of our country. Regionally, the differences in precipitation are sometimes very large due to the intensity of the showers. And it doesn't stop there, because the precipitation has not stopped yet and the showers will remain active until the end of Friday afternoon, especially in the southern Netherlands.
More than monthly rainfall
According to the weather stations, the province of Limburg received the most rainfall with more than 40 millimeters, AgroExact shows. Locally, 70 millimeters fell, more than what falls on average in the month of May. The east and North Brabant also suffered a lot in terms of precipitation. It was precisely where the downpours dumped most of their precipitation and where the showers lingered, because locally the differences are very large. Regions of Utrecht and even southern Flevoland also suffered from downpours, causing plots to be (temporarily) flooded.
Precipitation map until 08:00 Friday morning. Source: AgroExact
Precipitation map in the Netherlands until Friday morning 08:10. Source: vwk.com
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'Already been around with the shovel'
The large amount of water comes just after a short period in which a lot of land work was done. Growers in the south were still busy sowing and planting the plots until the last minute yesterday when the precipitation came. It was expected that a lot of precipitation fell, but it always remains a guess how much actually falls.
Onion grower Hubert Linders from Nederweert in Limburg has received more than 40 millimeters so far and it is still raining in the morning, he says. He had just sown his Crop Tour plot with onions this week. "It will rain until the afternoon. I have already been around with the shovel for a while. We have only just sown here this week, so I think the ground will soon be closed again after all that rain. For most of The country will not be too bad with the damage, but the end areas where there has been a lot of traffic are in less good shape. But we will see." In addition, Linders indicates that compared to other years, little has happened with agricultural work this season. Now with the precipitation of the past 24 hours and what is yet to come, it looks like spring work cannot continue until mid-May at the earliest.
Cloudbursts
At Lotte Steinbusch, a potato grower in Voerendaal, Limburg, even more than 60 millimeters fell in a short time. The damage to the crops is still unclear. Southern Flevoland, which was relatively spared on Thursday and Friday night, also had to deal with a huge downpour this morning (Friday). In the region around Zeewolde and Almere, more than 35 millimeters fell in a short time. Potato grower Daan Tap from Elst, Gelderland, says that between 19 and 30 millimeters has also fallen for him.
The Crop Tour plot in Lepelstraat (North Brabant) was also sown this week and received quite a bit of rainfall. The water can be seen between the tracks. In total, almost 25 millimeters fell, according to the weather station at onion grower David de Wit. He does indicate that the intensity of the showers was not too bad, especially if you compare it with other regions. "There has been quite a bit of rain here, but I thought it would be worse with the peak showers. That wasn't too bad. Via the AgroExact weather station you can see the precipitation per 10 minutes and that amounted to 2 millimeters."
"I think we have done reasonably well considering other areas, but more will fall in the coming days. I am glad that we have our onions in stock, because it will now take a while before we can get on the land again. If we had to sow afterwards, it probably wouldn't have been necessary," says de Wit.
Jesse Torringa
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