Países Bajos: Grower starts new year by loading potatoes for flake factory

The potato heap is protected from the weather by straw and a blanket. When delivering at the end of last week, the blanket was removed first and then the straw. A telehandler pulls off the net that is placed over the potatoes. Most of the straw comes with it. Wortelboer does not remove more straw from the heap than necessary. This is to prevent the potatoes from getting wet from the rain.

Arable farmer Henk Wortelboer then loads the potatoes himself with a shovel. The potatoes fall into the truck via a cleaner that the company rents from a contractor. Wortelboer delivers a total of 1,500 tons to Aviko Rixona. ’That is about a third of our starch potato area’, he says. ’We have been delivering to Aviko Rixona for years to spread the risk. The rest of the potatoes go to Avebe.’

Satisfied

Wortelboer is satisfied with the yield of the starch potatoes. In addition, the starch content is fine. ’We have also been able to maintain the quality’, adds the Groningen grower. ’In the period that the potatoes have been on the pile, it has not yet been colder than 4 degrees below zero. That is the turning point. If it gets colder than -4 degrees, you have to cover the pile extra to prevent saccharification.’

In this process, the starch in the potatoes becomes saccharified and the product tastes sweet. Black spots also appear internally. Wortelboer deliberately chooses the German starch variety Novano. ’This variety is easier to keep than, for example, Saprodi and is suitable for delivery to the flake industry’, the arable farmer explains.