Crop tour Adrian Wortman
'We serve a fast food chain together with 14 growers'
With 75 hectares of chip potatoes, Kroes Akkerbouw in Dronten has a clear focus on this crop, which is mainly supplied to fast food chains. Five Guys Burgers and Fries will be delivered. To achieve this, it works together with fourteen growers. Adriaan Wortman is partly responsible for potato cultivation and is optimistic about all the challenges. "We take every opportunity to distinguish ourselves in the sales market with potatoes packed in washed and paper bags." In addition, they make extensive use of smart fertilizers on the farm.
Follows during the growing season Boerenbusiness Crop tour another ten plots with Innovator chip potatoes. From planting to harvest, the participating arable farmers take us through the cultivation and decisions they make during the season. In this series of interviews we each get to know one grower, his company, vision and strategy. In this part Adriaan Wortman, who works at the arable farm Kroes Akkerbouw and at Plantcoaching. Owner Philip Kroes has been a partner of the Crop Tour with the company Plantcoaching for four years. Wortman is participating as a grower for the first time this year.
Adriaan Wortman grew up in Flevoland, where his passion for the agricultural sector originated. He works for both the Plantcoaching company and the arable farming company Kroes Akkerbouw. He is also actively involved in Farm24. With five years of experience at Kroes' company, and a recent increase in responsibility, Wortman is playing an increasingly active role within the multi-faceted company. They cultivate approximately 170 hectares in Dronten (Flevoland) with crops such as potatoes, sugar beets, seed onions and wheat. "About a quarter of the land is used for growing potatoes. Most of the land on the acreage is rented or rented"
"This year we are growing approximately 75 hectares of potatoes. These are the Tiger, Sagitta and Innovator varieties. In mid-March we started planting the potatoes on a plot with lighter soil, where we planted pre-germinated Innovator potatoes using the Joppe pre-germination system. At the beginning of May all the potatoes were in the ground."
Coarse structure of the soil
The Crop tour plot, which is followed by Boerenbusiness, consists of 16 hectares of Innovator chip potatoes. The preliminary crop of this plot was tulips, after which a green manure was sown. The plot was planted on April 14. “Overall we are happy with how the planting went, although we did encounter some challenges due to the coarse structure of the soil,” Wortman reflects. "The coarse structure was created by last season's bulb cultivation. The plot was plowed at the end of January, so unfortunately the plot did not experience any frost. As a result, the soil is not optimally weathered."
"The soil on which we grow is generally of high quality. We are in an area with a rich mineral composition, characterized by many shells and a remnant of a drained seabed. This soil, infused with calcium, contributes to the shelf life and quality of the potatoes and is extremely suitable for growing French fries potatoes."
Storage and marketing
The fries potatoes are stored at the company in Dronten in a number of rented storage boxes. We use box storage with mechanical cooling and a drying blowing system, which is ideal for maintaining quality. An important condition is that the potatoes do not contain too much soil. A total of 2.100 boxes fit in the refrigerator. Adriaan: "We aim to store the potatoes until June/July. Sometimes they have to be delivered earlier for logistical reasons, such as not obtaining potatoes from other growers on time. Our customer (Five Guys) is an American fast food chain with 250 branches. in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It is one of the largest buyers of our French fries potatoes. This year we have 14 growers from Flevoland who grow under contract and/or freely for us, which allows us to guarantee constant sales of French fries potatoes. We store, wash, package and then sell the fries potatoes."
Smart fertilizers
With our own company that focuses on fertilization in potatoes, it is not surprising that a lot of attention is paid to this at Kroes' company, Wortman explains. "We use smart fertilizers from PlantCoaching that allow the plant to focus on reproductive growth. These fertilizers are particularly suitable for Innovator potatoes, but can also be applied to other potato varieties. They optimize the absorption of nutrients for the plant, which ensures better rooting. The efficiency of fertilization is also increased. This is done with a liquid fertilizer that can be applied at a dosage of 40 liters per hectare. If successful, this can lead to an extra yield of 2,5 up to 4 tons per hectare."
"We also use the product Bocan, a fertilizer based on NH-2 level that is mainly aimed at reproductive growth and stimulates the production of cytokinins and growth hormone. This contributes to better rooting, more offspring, more uniform size sorting and further optimization of yields. and quality of our crops."
Crop protection and irrigation
Mechanical weed control is not used on the company. Instead, chemical crop protection is used as efficiently as possible. “This year we invested in a new air-assisted self-propelled sprayer to optimize this process. Time management is crucial given the three different industries in one location. In one day it is often not possible to do everything at once, although it is has to happen."
"On average, we start irrigating early in the season and have started using FieldScout's crop monitoring since last year. This was a test and this program will be extended next year. In addition, this year we are also using a soil moisture sensor from AgroExact. We are curious about the results that these new technologies will bring us."
Innovation and growth
"Innovation and growth are central to the company. Adriaan and Philip still see many opportunities in the rapidly changing agricultural sector. "We are of course now faced with challenges, such as improving our weed management, reduced availability of chemicals, plant resilience and more efficient application of fertilizers," says Adriaan realistically. "These challenges challenge us to find smart solutions and improve our working methods, with extra attention to soil compaction and dealing with changing weather conditions. As growers, we feel the growing pressure to act at the right time and we seize every opportunity to distinguish ourselves and respond to this." As a grower must continuously anticipate changes in the soil, the weather and other challenges, we therefore use the slogan: You can learn to plancipate!"
Jesse Torringa
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