Who will grow the heaviest fodder beet and become the world champion of 2022? Today all beets were removed from the ground and placed on the scales. The most exciting week of the year starts for the hundreds of members of the De Dorstige Biet association, because the results will be announced in a week’s time during the annual Bietenbal. A club of friends in Sint Maarten is participating for the first time this year. Nikita: Mine is high, but I hope there’s some underground too.”
It is that time again; it is the harvesting day of the De Dorstige Biet association. That means lashing and cutting, washing and weighing for the harvesting teams all day long. On the field next to Niels Bleeker’s company in Sint Maarten, there are about sixty fodder beets from him and the group of friends. “I haven’t participated in years and it was about time again,” says Bleeker.
Sixty beets
There are more than 300 participants in the area within the Westfriese Omringdijk – the boundary of the competition area. About sixty fodder beets from the group of friends in Sint Maarten are ready to be harvested. At first glance, Nikita’s beet looks good. “It seems like a lot. At least he’s not hollow inside,” says Nikita with relief. She is participating for the first time: “I was curious how it would all go, but of course I participate to win.”
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The record is still held by Piet de Goede: a beet of 71.2 kilos in 2005. Marijn Kossen’s beets from Sint Maarten will not make it. “I think they are in the middle bracket. We are just participating for fun, because we didn’t have much else to do in corona time.” That’s all, says Niels Bleeker: “It’s for fun. You can become world champion and win a cup. But there is also a lot of competition.”
Done nothing
The harvesting team takes the heaviest beet from each participant. These are collected in Schagen where they are weighed to the decimal point behind closed doors. Hans from the group of friends from Sint Maarten has little chance with his first beet. It’s just a handful. “I didn’t do anything at all. Niels would take that on, but yes, you’ve seen his beets, so you can see how much attention he paid to my beets.”
The results of the heaviest fodder beet of 2022 will be announced during the annual Beet Ball. That is Saturday in the Prins Maurits in Nieuwe Niedorp.
Vereniging De Dorstige Biet was founded in 1974 and in two years’ time the association will celebrate its 50th anniversary. NH Nieuws followed the association for a year in 2019. Below is an overview of that anniversary year.
Followed the growth of the fodder beet for a year – NH Nieuws
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