Contractors are busy and are pulling out all available equipment to meet the farmers’ demand. The soaking wet autumn and spring leaves its mark. For a long time they could not get onto the land with heavy equipment because it was a big wet mess.
At contracting company Weco De Hondsrug there is always running and standing still, but now more than normal. “We are running about three weeks behind a normal spring with all the work,” says manager Ebel Brandsema. Fertilizer still needs to be applied, but the beets also need to be sown, the potatoes planted, the corn sown and the first cut of grass mowed.
We can roll up our sleeves, the only question is whether this backlog can still be caught up. “We obviously cannot make up for a three-week deficit in one week,” Brandsema said. He is trying to arrange extra staff to fill the gap, but he wants to be economical with this. “They still have to last the rest of the year, we are just reaching a limit at the moment.”
Finding contractors is becoming an increasing problem, notes arable farmer Johan Emmens. “If you call one today, I don’t think you will have one tomorrow,” says Emmens, laughing.
He understands Brandsema: they are all in the same boat. “There are few farmers who can do without a contractor, you just need each other. You have to give each other time and respect. We are in these circumstances. A contractor cannot go faster than he already does,” says Emmens.
Last year was also an extreme year, but this year takes the cake. The growing days of the harvest will be fewer, but it will not have any direct consequences.
Farmers and contractors have to wait for the entire summer, which will be decisive for the growth of crops and their yields. “A dry or wet summer determines much more than sowing or planting a few weeks later,” says Brandsema
The men have not experienced such a disadvantage for years, but it does not stress Emmens. “You have to deal with the circumstances that exist, the weather is beautiful now and then it can all happen very quickly.”
