Roughage tour Week 15
Dairy farmers long for warmer weather
Many areas of the country are wet for this time of year. While many parcels had to contend with the drought last year, there is now mainly a desire among dairy farmers for rapidly warming weather.
The Roughage Tour plot in Sint-Oedenrode owned by dairy farmer Joost van Nostrum is quite wet for this time of year. The image below gives a nice representation of the difference in groundwater level. Around the same period last year, it quickly dried up and was even in the critical area at the end of April. This year's trend is very different and tends to be very wet.
A world of difference
With an average temperature of more than 11 degrees, April last year was more than 2 degrees warmer than the current average temperature until now in April 2021. This is also reflected in the grass growth on the plots of the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour. Last year the first cut was made by one of the participants on April 22. With the weather forecasts ahead and in particular the persistent cold nights, that will be at least a week later this year.
Nevertheless, 2021 is still regarded by farmers as a good start to the growing season. There is sufficient moisture present and the preparation of the arable land went with a smile. Due to the persistent and severe frost in February, the ground had frozen through well, which can be clearly seen below in the photo comparison of 2020 and this spring.
Erik van der Deure
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