Speculation on an early spring is not illogical

Rarely will frozen ground warm up as quickly as yesterday. In one day, the 'frozen ground border' moved hundreds of kilometers to the northeast, far beyond the German border, says Boerenbusiness columnist Erik Colenbrander. At the same time, the grass along the Belgian border almost started to grow, at a soil temperature of more than five degrees. 

The first onion sets are already in the ground. As if nature takes the Fertilizers Act into account and prepares the land as soon as fertilizer can be applied on grassland again. Grass will begin to grow as soon as the soil temperature is 6-8 degrees, depending on the soil type and grass type. If this threshold is exceeded, it is not only useful to use slurry, but nitrogen fertilizer can also be applied to the grassland.

Given the high 1-hour averages that are predicted, there is a good chance that the threshold will be exceeded around XNUMX March. The regional differences are always large. On average, spring in South Limburg is two weeks earlier than in Groningen. This difference becomes even greater when it is wet, because then the clay soils remain cold longer than the sandy soils. Even though precipitation has been below average for more than six months, the soil is saturated at this time of year, except for a few patches of high sandy soil.

It only takes a little precipitation to compact the soil when riding the land. Better twice with little weight than once with a lot of weight. Applying slurry manually or having it applied by hand can be the wrong economy, because the losses due to soil compaction are quickly much greater than the savings on the contractor's account.

If there is an abundance of precipitation, there is also a risk of leaching and disinvestment in fertilization. But the prospects do not speak of much rain. The weather forecast could hardly be better. Thanks to the temperature jump that took place this week, February will probably end two degrees warmer than average, despite the cold first half of the month. Temperatures approaching ten degrees for days, without frost at night and yet no significant precipitation, with the exception of the middle of next week.

Giving full throttle and speculating on an earlier spring than ever is not illogical given the trend of climate change. The longer the growing season, the higher the yields. Even though there is a risk of night frost and if you sow sugar beets too early, you run the risk of shooters. Risk spreading with the spring work, as with hedging price risk, is not a bad idea. 

Boerenbusiness

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