2023-11-04 15:44:29
A storm, rain… It’s been a tough week for farmers. They are supposed to harvest their potatoes but are running late because of the humidity.
Since the spring was rainy, farmers are planting later, so they are harvesting a little later,”Usually, we start at the beginning of October, here, we started digging the potatoes from October 15th. So obviously, the days are getting shorter, there is less sun “, explains Benoît Debast, agricultural entrepreneur. To avoid the rain, farmers work at night but the land is too wet, “it is so soft that it remains attached to the potato and in the end, the machine fills with mud “, specifies Mathieu Mathys, farmer in Fouleng, near Silly.
The machines get stuck
It also happens that the potato harvester gets stuck in the mud, “we pulled on it as best we could because it’s a machine that doesn’t like to be towed. It took us three hours “But farmers’ time is running out. If the potato stays too long in the humidity, it risks rotting and in case of frost, it’s all over,”I have 40% of my area left to tear off. It’s getting a little worrying. Last night, in good conditions, we could have done double that. We could have done 18 hectares instead of 9 hectares.” Not all regions are affected by this harvest problem. It all depends on the soil, some absorb water more than others. With their eyes glued to their weather app, farmers are impatiently awaiting the return of drier weather.
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#Rain #complicates #potato #harvest