Farmer Arjan Manders and his cows are only 140 meters away from the De Peel nature reserve. He is no longer allowed to expand, the nitrogen emissions must be reduced. And irrigating is no longer allowed, nor is drainage. A disaster for the grass and maize that Arjan grows for his cows. In an attempt to save the farm’s survival, he has now started an irrigation experiment together with the Aa en Maas water board. The aim: to keep the groundwater so high that his crops remain good and at the same time ensure that De Peel does not dry out.
The De Peel nature reserve is located a lot higher than the surrounding area. “If you drive from here to the church tower in Zeilberg, you are suddenly six meters lower,” says Arjan van Leeuwen, Arjan Manders’ brother-in-law. Together they run the family farm, which Van Leeuwen’s grandfather started in the 1950s. “Back then, we didn’t look at nature. After the war, food just had to be produced,” says Arjan Manders.
“You have to do something, otherwise you’ll be written off.”
Nature is now a priority. For example, the unique sphagnum moss on De Peel should be flourishing again and rainwater is needed for this. Other water cannot be used on De Peel. In order to retain the rainwater, a high groundwater level is needed in the vicinity of the nature reserve, so that it does not drain. And that is difficult for the farmers there, who also need the groundwater to irrigate their crops.
Arjan Manders and his farm are located in the so-called buffer zone around De Peel. It has been established to protect the nature reserve as much as possible. It is an area of 7000 hectares. He feared for his crops. “You have to do something, otherwise you will be written off. Then the idea came up to build a so-called sub-irrigation system on the land.”
“It was exciting.”
The farm’s land, twelve hectares, was plowed. “That was exciting, because you don’t know what it does to your soil structure.” Drainage hoses were installed at a depth of 90 centimeters, every five metres. “Actually, it’s not allowed, because you’re not allowed to drain here, but we got a permit for the pilot,” says Arjan. He therefore does not extract water from the land, but instead pumps water into it.
The water now comes from the Maas, via the Deurnes canal, into the hoses on Arjan’s land. “It only takes a pump to get the water onto the land, so you use much less energy than with a reel and a sprinkler. It is also much less work.” As a farmer, you therefore have to be in a favorable location near a water source. “But it should also be possible to bring the water to farmers who are a bit further away.”
“De Peel is also important to us, we can’t live without it.”
The system will automatically dispense water if the groundwater level becomes too low. Arjan can also make adjustments himself. “It takes some getting used to to work with the system. But this year was a very good year to test with all the drought. We were able to keep our crops very well and the groundwater level high, without having to irrigate.” And so Arjan is a lot more positive about the future.
“I think we can both do it. Having a farm and a heart for nature. De Peel is also important to us, we cannot live without it. You may want to chase away the livestock farmers here, but their grassland can tolerate the high groundwater level well. If you switch all this to arable farming, which cannot withstand a high groundwater level, De Peel will still dry out.”
Arjan’s irrigation system is a pilot project that will last 3 to 5 years.