The outdoor season for lettuces and cabbage vegetables in the Krefeld area started one week later than last year. "Due to the heavy rainfall in March, the vegetable plants could not always be planted under optimal conditions. The result was a 15-20 percent poorer harvest and smaller calibres, which could not always be compensated by the prices achieved. At the moment we have relatively good stocks of all crops," reports Heinz Stoffers, managing director of the Krefeld-based vegetable farm of the same name.
Despite better prices, the economic situation is very difficult, the dedicated market gardener continues. "20 to 25 percent higher wages and considerable cost increases for all inputs do not make it any easier for the farms."
Heinz Stoffers runs a vegetable farm in Krefeld together with his son
Lack of appreciation and staff problems
"The market is still sufficiently supplied, but one should not be surprised if there will be more and more shortages in the future," says Stoffers. "The availability of motivated staff and harvest helpers for the heavy work, as well as the lack of appreciation for vegetable production and the increasingly difficult general conditions, contribute to many a farm manager giving up or reorienting himself to arable crops that are not so labour-intensive."
In the field vegetable sector, the grower is also observing some shifts. Stoffers: "Lettuce is no longer a big product these days due to the variety of lettuce on the market. However, the cultivation and sales figures seem to be stabilising. Iceberg lettuce is still an important and also stable crop. Kohlrabi cultivation, on the other hand, has been somewhat reduced in recent years; we have also planted about 20 per cent less this year."
Demand and buying restraint
According to Stoffers, the current demand for German open-grown lettuce is satisfactory. "The holiday season in NRW is perhaps leading to a slight decline. Demand for kohlrabi, Urkohl and savoy cabbage, on the other hand, is somewhat more restrained due to the summer weather." Nevertheless, the reluctance to buy due to inflation is also noticeable in the marketing of outdoor produce.
Overall, Stoffers is confident about the coming months. "If the weather stays as it is now, i.e. relatively dry, I see a reasonable sales situation, especially since most farms in our region have good irrigation facilities. In the end, however, it is coffee guesswork, because you can never estimate nature," he concludes.
Pictures: Stoffers Vegetable Farm
Further information:
Heinrich Stoffers
Stoffers Gemüsebau
Flünnertzdyk 215
47802 Krefeld
Telefon: 02151/561097
Telefax: 02151/563331
E-Mail: info@stoffers-gemuesebau.de
Internet: www.stoffers-gemuesebau.de