Onion Crop Tour sown extremely early this year

The average sowing date for yellow onions from Gewastour participants will be 2025 March in 20. This means that the onions on Gewastour plots were sown much earlier than last year, when the average sowing date was not until 19 April 2024. Compared to previous years, 2025 is also relatively early: in 2022 the average sowing date was 28 March and in 2021 it was 31 March. This year, we are also looking at red onions for the first time. The average sowing date for these is 24 March.

The majority of the onion plots of the Gewastour participants were sown in the second half of March this year. The first plot was already planted on 14 March. The last sowing moment did not take place until 19 April, but that was an exception. The other plots were sown between 14 and 30 March.

Sowing season starts earlier
The relatively early average sowing date indicates that spring has started dry in many regions. In contrast to the wet spring of 2024, growers were able to get out into the fields earlier this year. In that respect, this year has started much more favourably than last year, which could provide a head start in crop development, provided that the growing season continues to develop favourably. On 14 March, Jacky Dieleman from Philippine (Zeeland) sowed his yellow onions. The first Gewastour plot of this year was sown under beautiful sunny conditions at the time. Ruud Vossebeld from Beemte Broekland (Gelderland) concluded on 19 April by sowing his Gewastour plot for red onions. For a long time, Ruud thought it was still too cold and too early to sow. That is why he decided to sow his onions after mid-April. 

Looking back at previous years:

Regional differences set the tone for the season
However, this early spring also has clear regional differences that are starting to emerge. In the north and central Netherlands, sufficient rain fell last week. This precipitation has ensured that the crop there is growing well and is developing mostly evenly. 

The situation is different in the southwest of the Netherlands. In arable farming areas such as Zeeland, West Brabant and parts of South Holland it has been relatively dry for weeks. This leads to problems, especially in areas where there is no possibility of irrigation. Plots are growing unevenly there, which causes problems with weed control. This difference in conditions already causes great variation in crop development between regions, but sometimes even within a plot.

This unevenness in standing not only causes problems with effective weed control, but also for the further course of the cultivation. Onions that emerge evenly grow uniformly and are therefore of better quality towards the harvest. This year it seems increasingly likely that many plots will therefore have to deal with large differences in onion size and crop development. Especially towards the moment of MH spraying. Because this spraying works optimally when the crop is sufficiently even, timing is essential. With an uneven crop, that moment is difficult to determine. Spraying too early means that part of the onions are not yet ready for absorption, while spraying too late gives the risk that too little is absorbed, which reduces the effect and the onions will not be able to be stored for as long. 

It remains to be seen how the growing season will develop further, but the initial developments are a good prelude to the ultimate quality, uniformity and sales opportunities of the onions from storage.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.