Roughage tour Week 14
Cold stops growing weather for grass for a while
The cold and precipitation of the past few days have left their mark on the Easter weekend. The difference in precipitation and temperature on the grassland and maize parcels participating in the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour is great. Where the growing season started nicely, everything has come to a standstill again.
The weather has turned sharply over the past few days. Where we could still enjoy a lovely spring sun at the end of March, April starts with winter showers of hail and snow. The precipitation map below shows a nice overview of the variation between the different fields in the Netherlands.
Consequences for winter field beans and fodder beets
Last Friday (week 13) the first field beans and fodder beets were sown by some dairy farmers participating in the Roughage Tour. "For now, the cold has not yet had any major consequences for the seed," says Antoon Verhoeven, roughage specialist in the South West Netherlands of Limagrain. It's still nice and warm hidden in their bag in the ground. First it will have to absorb enough moisture before it wakes up and starts growing. Hopefully the worst of the cold will be gone by then.”
Corn land sensitive to rainfall
The maize land plot in Zeewolde is in excellent condition. The structure of the soil is much better than last year and can connect nicely in the coming period, before the manure is applied in mid-April. ''Due to last winter's frost, the soil is very fine after tilling. After a lot of rain and fast-drying weather, a crust can form, but it is not likely to become clogged with 55% siltability," says Roel Assies, dairy farmer and arable farmer in Zeewolde (Flevoland).
The rain and winter precipitation will continue in the coming days. Temperatures will rise slightly during the week, but real spring weather is not yet in sight.
Erik van der Deure
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