Dutch Crop tour Potatoes - week 42
Fries are already salted in the ground
The potato harvest made significant progress last week. Several potato growers from the Boerenbusiness The crop tour has harvested its Innovators. It's striking that the dry growing season is also affecting harvesting. Many fields still require irrigation in mid-October to ensure the potatoes are removed from the ground without damage. Despite the risks, brackish or salty water is sometimes used for irrigation in the southwest of the country.
The potato growers who participate in the Boerenbusiness Crop harvesters have been making good progress with their harvest this past week. Since significant rain finally fell after a long time, most farmers didn't hesitate. As soon as conditions permitted, they immediately went out into the fields to continue harvesting. As a result, most are well on their way to, or have already finished, harvesting potatoes.
Dry year reflected during harvesting
Potato harvesting also went smoothly for potato grower Wouter Vierboom from Leuth in Gelderland. "Harvesting went well after the rain, and I started harvesting again as soon as I could. If I had waited a bit longer, harvesting would have been a bit easier, but I was afraid it would quickly become too dry again." The same applies to Brian Salome from Ijzendijke in Zeeland. After receiving 25 millimeters of rain, it wasn't wet enough to wet all the hard clods at the bottom of his ridge. Brian recently installed a deep drain, which allows him to irrigate. He applied another 25 millimeters, which meant harvesting was just starting. "A few clods are still being carried onto the harvesting mat, so I actually need another 25 millimeters to get rid of them," says Brian.
It remains crucial to ensure potatoes are neatly stored in the storage shed. A common saying is: the drier the growing season, the higher the underwater weight. While a high underwater weight is certainly desirable, dry harvesting conditions make it difficult to harvest potatoes neatly. Several Crop Tour participants indicate this year is no different. Harvesting requires considerable attention, they say. Several growers say they're doing their best and will see how they fare in storage in due course.
It is still being irrigated
As Brian Salome already mentioned, it's still bone dry in the southwest of the Netherlands. After a few grateful millimeters, it will be too dry for those who still have potatoes in the ground to harvest them. Therefore, irrigation is currently being used in the southwest to moisten the soil. Despite the risks, brackish or salt water is sometimes used. While this helps get the potatoes out of the ground in the short term, it's not ideal. The salt remains in the topsoil and can further increase the soil's salt content. Especially if there isn't much rain this coming winter, the salt won't be sufficiently leached. Yet, growers are accepting this risk. Because if it doesn't really rain until late October or early November, the chances of the soil drying out quickly enough to harvest are decreasing.
Jan Willem Veldman
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