On the plot in Middenmeer (North Holland) the grubbing-up was completed last week fairly smoothly. The weather conditions were good, although the grower had to irrigate before he could harvest. “Not so much because it was too dry, but I didn’t want to take any chances when the weather suddenly turned,” explains the grower. The yield comes from around 60 tons per hectare net. That’s a lot more than in the test harvest ,because it came a result of 49.9 tons. “The underwater weight is low at 360 grams, which is a point of attention.”
Satisfied with yields
Also in Ens (Flevoland) the potatoes are now all inside and the grower is satisfied with the result. “The yield is close to the result of the last test harvest: around 57 tonnes net. I don’t know the underwater weight exactly. The other plots come in at about 380 grams, so I expect that for the Crop Tour plot as well. In general, the potatoes look good, in terms of quality,” says the grower.
On the plot in Someren (North Brabant) the net yield is no less than 80 tons. “We are of course very satisfied with this. The quality is also good and the potatoes have a nice coarseness”, reports the potato grower. The underwater weight comes to 364 grams, which is equal to the result in the trial harvest. “We sprayed the potatoes to death after that.”
In Cuijk (North Brabant) the yield was higher than during the last trial harvest. This resulted in a yield of 54.7 tonnes, but in the end a net 59 tonnes was harvested. “That’s a great result for the Innovator race.” The underwater weight on this plot is 375 grams, which is slightly lower than the 390 grams that emerged during the trials.
Also in Scharendijke (Zeeland) there is satisfaction with the results. The yield comes to about 50 tons, with an underwater weight of more than 400 grams. “Although it was a bit too dry to harvest and the potatoes are blue sensitive due to the high underwater weight and have suffered damage, I am satisfied. After all, we are talking about an unprained plot. In retrospect, I’m also glad that we cleared, because when I look at the weather now I’m afraid it would have taken a while.”
Waiting for the weather
That last is discussed in Dronten (Flevoland), because there is still grubbing up there at the moment. “It’s a matter of keeping a close eye on the weather reports. Fortunately, we are not on very heavy clay, which means that we can still clear between showers. I expect the plot to be empty by half a day.” The yield seems to be good. “When I look at the contents of the tipper and cell, I expect a yield that may even exceed the result of the trial harvest (almost 63 tons).”
In Hank (North Brabant) the plans literally fell into the water due to the weather conditions. “We wanted to start harvesting the Crop Tour plot early next week, but that’s not going to be him anymore. As soon as the weather is good, we want to start harvesting. We’ll just have to keep a close eye on the weather.”
