The predicted frost after the extreme rainfall is bad news for potato farmers. Harm Nijmeijer from Holsloot has about 40 percent of his potatoes still in the field. Potatoes cannot withstand frost. “I have to write that part off.”
Nijmeijer, who is therefore at a loss of at least 50,000 euros, is far from the only farmer who still has large quantities in the ground. “Normally, these potatoes should have been harvested in mid-October. But due to the extreme rainfall, I have not been able to go into the field with the heavy machines for months. Some farmers use up to three tracked vehicles to get the harvester moving. But you are only destroying your country.”
Blubber
An additional problem is that the blubber often makes harvesting difficult. “Such a potato ridge then disappears into the machine as one large, solid slice. The sieve with which the sand is normally shaken from the potatoes does not work properly.”
Shouldn’t Nijmeijer have collected all the potatoes from the field at once? “There are early and late varieties. Not everything can be harvested in August and September. Moreover, you cannot supply unlimited quantities to Avebe. Every farmer makes agreements about how much will be delivered and when.”
Nijmeijer does not have a potato barn to store the harvest. The October yield would normally be temporarily stored in covered mounds on the land, but that did not happen.
‘It doesn’t look good’
Nijmeijer keeps a close eye on the weather forecast. “It doesn’t look good. Early next week, according to the latest reports, it will be -5 at night. Potatoes can hardly handle anything, especially those at the top of the ground. Only a small part needs to freeze and the potato is done.”
If it does freeze, give Nijmeijer a harsh winter after all. So that the frost penetrates the ground well and everything becomes frozen. “That is also good for the recovery of the soil. Potatoes rot, which you don’t have to worry about later. But if only part of it freezes, everything still has to be removed. Potatoes that are left in place will soon sprout again. This should absolutely not happen, because then the potato cyst nematode will strike inexorably. This nematode causes potato fatigue.” This will certainly result in a poor harvest.
Sleepless nights
The 73-year-old resident of Holsloot has been a farmer since he was seventeen. “I have never experienced anything as extreme as it is now in those 56 years. Last summer I sometimes had sleepless nights because of all the rain that was already falling. But you can’t lie awake every night. Unfortunately, it’s part of being a farmer. You can insure yourself against extreme precipitation, but I don’t. I sometimes heard stories around me from others who did have such insurance. Then it must have fallen that many millimeters of rain in certain periods, say three days in a row. Often it was less than stated in the conditions and you could whistle for compensation.”
Royal Avebe chairman David Fousert recently estimated that 5 to 10 percent of the potatoes in Drenthe have not yet been harvested. This is less so in Groningen. It is a hard blow for the farmers concerned, said Fousert. “It is precisely with those last few hectares that you can make a difference, they can make or break you.” At Nijmeijer it concerns about 9 hectares.
Beet farmers also fear
Beet farmers who have not yet received the spoils are also looking at the predicted frost with fear and trembling. According to experts, sugar beets can tolerate slightly more frost than potatoes. “It is a relief to my heart that I now have both the sugar beets and the potatoes from the field. You are busy with it all season long, so it is very frustrating if you cannot harvest. Fortunately, we mainly live on ash soils, which are more resistant to excessive rainfall,” says a farmer from Oosterhesselen.
LTO North: Moderate frost is the end of the story
“It has been a very extreme year for farmers. Christmas is normally a time for reflection and looking back, but instead many farmers are still busy bringing in the harvest,” says regional director Erik Emmens of agricultural organization LTO Noord.
According to him, national figures indicate that about 10 percent of sugar beets are still in the ground, and 3 to 5 percent of potatoes. “With significant outliers, such as the 40 percent of the potato farmer in Holsloot. As soon as it starts to freeze moderately, the potatoes are over. Sugar beets can withstand frost just a little better.
LTO Noord does not yet have a complete picture of the damage to farmers. “You only know that when everything has actually been harvested. It also depends on what the sugar beet price will do in the future.”
Emmens considers himself fortunate to have harvested both the potatoes and the sugar beets. ,,I can not complain. These were very difficult conditions. Contract workers deserve praise for their tireless efforts everywhere.”