Predicted rain could save farmers thousands of euros: “Let the showers come!”

Seed potatoes are potatoes that are not yet fully grown. They are intended for sale to growers. This crop should not be sprayed. There are strict requirements for growing them, so that no diseases are spread.

Because these so-called seed potatoes may not be sprayed, the rain is of great importance to growers. The size of their harvest depends on the weather. Kees Stoop, of interest group LTO Noord Noord-Holland, emphasizes that these are exciting times for seed potato growers. He cannot give concrete figures; You cannot predict to what extent a harvest will fail if there is no rain, he explains.

Arable farmer Bram Francis from de Beemster explains that persistent drought can cause ‘potato stress’. In the event of a severe drought, the plant limits the number of potato tubers it produces out of self-protection. “That’s nature,” explains Bram Francis. “The plant thinks: I want offspring, but good ones, not half.”

There is no panic reaction yet and if it starts to rain tomorrow, it will not happen for the time being, farmer Francis expects. “But”, he says, “it doesn’t say anything about the rest of the season of course. If we get a dry period again in a while, it will still be exciting.” Serious potato stress can save a third to half of the yield.

The text continues under the video, in which farmer Bram explains what the drought does to his crop

Arwin Bos is a potato grower in the Haarlemmermeer. He grows for consumption. His potatoes end up in the supermarket, or in the snack bar they are made into fries. Bos is allowed to water his potatoes. A certainty with which he can save part of his harvest.

But he can’t wait for the rain either. Watering his crops costs a lot of money, especially due to increased diesel prices. The machines he uses to water run on diesel. “If it doesn’t rain in the coming weeks, the costs for me will rise to tens of thousands of euros,” Bos explains.

Moreover, he cannot keep all his plots wet. That means that he has to incur more costs and his harvest is smaller.

A good start

As a farmer he is used to being dependent on rain; it is vital for his crops. The predicted rain in the coming days should be the beginning of ‘a good start’, as he calls it. That is the beginning of the germination of his crops.

Yet the potato grower is still calm. He knows that you cannot predict the weather and is used to dealing with drought due to climate change. “You learn to accept it. I am still lucky here that I grow on clay soil. That is relatively moist soil and therefore better for the potatoes.”

Farmer Francis is also used to the drought. He used to check the rain forecast every half hour, but now less. “I usually watch in the morning, at noon and if it’s exciting again in between,” he says. “You’re driving yourself crazy, because now they give up three millimeters, and in an hour suddenly six.”