Tuesday,
We visited the Rinkema farm and spent some time with Gerrit and Fokje. Fokje and Wendy went to pick the girls up from school and we had a nice lunch for nine people! Gerrit showed us round the farm after the girls had been taken back to school. It’s very special to see the crops growing just outside the house windows. The Rinkema’s also grow grass for seed and it’s a crop that’s good for the soil as it gets plowed back in. Potatoes can only be grown on the same plot once every 3 or 4 years. There are no fences required here as the small ditches and canals provide a natural barrier for the cows, horses and sheep.
There were a few guys trying to get some paving done for the patio outside between the rain showers. Once the base had been prepared they moved right along. I wish I could lay paving that fast - the job was mostly done by the time we got back from a tour of the farm an hour later. It was too wet to go into the fields and it’s too early for harvest - that happens from the end of August so we could only see around the buildings. The sheds have been sprayed inside the walls and roofs with foam/insulation to help keep the temperature inside above freezing point.
Gerrit showed us lots of tractors, forklifts and machinery for seeding, nurturing and maintaining the plants, and harvesting the various crops. He works closely with his cousin Diederik and they have shared machinery and help each process the crops. They have a huge potato sorter that processes the potatoes into different sizes, removes some of the dirt (there’s a clever thing that sprays steam at various points which keeps the dust down), and once collated by size, they can pack into small bags that are stacked onto pallets, or into large bags or into 2 ton crates. The sowing and harvesting machines are also interesting and an be calibrated depending on the soil and other conditions. A real lesson in the intricacies of what’s involved in running a farm and seeing how the machine can accurately drop one seed at a time in the furrows and then shape a nice ridge for the plants to grow in and keep them out of the water. I’ve found it all very interesting and I think the boys now also understand how it all works. The farms are very efficient and they are able to get as much yield as possible by using the latest technology to sow the crops as close as possible, and also to harvest it effectively.
Then it was on to the Wierenga farm (La Vicke)and met Khatrien, Diederik and their four boys. Diederik had been out with an inspector who was checking the potato crop for sickness and gives the crop a rating that determines the price of the harvest. There are certain tolerances that are acceptable (like how many plants per row can be effected) and he got an excellent report card, and should do well out of it. He was quite chuffed that the inspector congratulated him on how good the crop looked, I think there was only one plant that was sick!
There are three huge sheds for storing the seed potatoes and more machinery, ploughs, tractors and trailers. They need a sophisticated climate machine that ensures there’s enough humidity and that the temperature is maintained at an even 4 degrees. Huge blowers and a refrigeration unit ensure that the piles of potatoes and also bins full of sorted The most important is the sorting and sizing machines that are fairly automation but require a human intervention at the final stage to ensure no sick potatoes get in amongst the good ones that head off for export to southern parts of Europe. I think between the two cousins they process about 20000 tons of potatoes a year! They live next to a canal and have a boat for touring about on the canals but they don’t get much time for summer holidays because that’s when the farm is busy.
Drove into Zuidhorn for a dinner in an Italian restaurant for a couple of pizzas and some chicken paprika for Reubs before dropping into Anita’s on the way home for a quick coffee and some email checking...
We visited the Rinkema farm and spent some time with Gerrit and Fokje. Fokje and Wendy went to pick the girls up from school and we had a nice lunch for nine people! Gerrit showed us round the farm after the girls had been taken back to school. It’s very special to see the crops growing just outside the house windows. The Rinkema’s also grow grass for seed and it’s a crop that’s good for the soil as it gets plowed back in. Potatoes can only be grown on the same plot once every 3 or 4 years. There are no fences required here as the small ditches and canals provide a natural barrier for the cows, horses and sheep.
There were a few guys trying to get some paving done for the patio outside between the rain showers. Once the base had been prepared they moved right along. I wish I could lay paving that fast - the job was mostly done by the time we got back from a tour of the farm an hour later. It was too wet to go into the fields and it’s too early for harvest - that happens from the end of August so we could only see around the buildings. The sheds have been sprayed inside the walls and roofs with foam/insulation to help keep the temperature inside above freezing point.
Gerrit showed us lots of tractors, forklifts and machinery for seeding, nurturing and maintaining the plants, and harvesting the various crops. He works closely with his cousin Diederik and they have shared machinery and help each process the crops. They have a huge potato sorter that processes the potatoes into different sizes, removes some of the dirt (there’s a clever thing that sprays steam at various points which keeps the dust down), and once collated by size, they can pack into small bags that are stacked onto pallets, or into large bags or into 2 ton crates. The sowing and harvesting machines are also interesting and an be calibrated depending on the soil and other conditions. A real lesson in the intricacies of what’s involved in running a farm and seeing how the machine can accurately drop one seed at a time in the furrows and then shape a nice ridge for the plants to grow in and keep them out of the water. I’ve found it all very interesting and I think the boys now also understand how it all works. The farms are very efficient and they are able to get as much yield as possible by using the latest technology to sow the crops as close as possible, and also to harvest it effectively.
Then it was on to the Wierenga farm (La Vicke)and met Khatrien, Diederik and their four boys. Diederik had been out with an inspector who was checking the potato crop for sickness and gives the crop a rating that determines the price of the harvest. There are certain tolerances that are acceptable (like how many plants per row can be effected) and he got an excellent report card, and should do well out of it. He was quite chuffed that the inspector congratulated him on how good the crop looked, I think there was only one plant that was sick!
There are three huge sheds for storing the seed potatoes and more machinery, ploughs, tractors and trailers. They need a sophisticated climate machine that ensures there’s enough humidity and that the temperature is maintained at an even 4 degrees. Huge blowers and a refrigeration unit ensure that the piles of potatoes and also bins full of sorted The most important is the sorting and sizing machines that are fairly automation but require a human intervention at the final stage to ensure no sick potatoes get in amongst the good ones that head off for export to southern parts of Europe. I think between the two cousins they process about 20000 tons of potatoes a year! They live next to a canal and have a boat for touring about on the canals but they don’t get much time for summer holidays because that’s when the farm is busy.
Drove into Zuidhorn for a dinner in an Italian restaurant for a couple of pizzas and some chicken paprika for Reubs before dropping into Anita’s on the way home for a quick coffee and some email checking...
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