Dutch Crop tour onions - week 35
Harvest seed onions at the point of bursting
It won't be long before the seed onion harvest is in full swing nationwide. Many onion plots have started to be flattened or have been lying flat for a while, which means that harvesting is already on the schedule for many. Only the weather has to cooperate. In many areas, the ground is already starting to become (too) hard to harvest.
The first wave of seed onions has already been harvested and loaded and the earliest seed onions have even been exported or are on their way. Onion growers nationwide are on the eve of the onion harvest in the coming weeks. Most plots have already been levelled and others are in the phase of necking. The later sown plots without many problems, which are often sown somewhat thicker and have a thicker stand, which causes the crop to grow earlier, are also already on their way out. Due to the later sowing time and the limited possibilities for sowing this spring, the onion harvest seems to be going to proceed fairly gradually from the south to the north of the Netherlands.
According to some growers, the rapid ripening of the crop has Boerenbusiness Dutch Crop tour possibly also related to the weather conditions in August. The onion crop had a hard time with the high temperatures in combination with drought. Although there was an occasional shower, the crop pulled incredibly hard. Another reason for the rapid ripening is downy mildew, which despite the warm days has also been rampant in recent weeks. The month of August and before that also July, had several days with dew-wet nights and therefore long leaf-wet periods. The fungus has been detected in every region and some of the plots are completely flooded. The light attacks also help the crop on its way out.
Harvesting conditions
Onion growers of the Boerenbusiness Dutch Crop tour have not yet harvested and loaded any onions today, but in Philippine (Zeeland) the first onions probably rolled over the harvesting mat this afternoon, says onion grower Jacky Dieleman. "The onions and we are ready for it. The harvesting conditions seem good as they are now."
A bit further north, near Lepelstraat in North Brabant, the onions are expected to be harvested this weekend. Onion grower David de Wit does indicate that irrigation will probably be necessary before harvesting. "I think we'll harvest the onions this weekend. The crop is deteriorating rapidly. We do need to irrigate first. The plot has really heavy soil and it hardens quickly in this weather." De Wit sees that the weather conditions of the past few weeks have had an impact on the crop. "You can see that the onions have deteriorated very quickly. We did have rain, and quite a bit, but the warm days did have an impact, as it is deteriorating so quickly now."
Waiting for the weather
In Kortgene in Zeeland, the onions are still partly standing and a lot greener, reports onion grower Klaasjan Boer. "The crop tour plot is still quite green. Part has been flattened but a smaller part is still standing. Here the stand is very hollow so that is the reason. Maybe I will also help this one with flattening," explains Boer, who is referring to mechanical flattening of the onions.
The green foliage does not mean that harvesting will take much longer at Boer, who has had the MH on it for more than two weeks. "Maybe if there is some rain in the course of next week, we will just start harvesting. The harvesting conditions are good then and it is questionable whether much will really grow if you leave the onions standing afterwards. In Wezup (Drenthe) too, the onions are almost ready to be harvested, says onion grower Arjen Jakobs. He expects to start harvesting the onions in the course of next week.
Jesse Torringa
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