The open ground season for lettuce has been disappointing so far. "It's a difficult situation for all lettuce varieties at the moment. We have had an extremely dry period and this means a lot of plants have been burnt. Thankfully there was rain this weekend, but the plants didn't all respond well to this. Sprouting occurred in a few days, especially among curly endives and Romain lettuce," says Orwin Ceulemans of cultivation company Crotoni. "The sprouting isn't as bad among Lollo Rosso, Lollo Bionda, red and green oak leaf. There are some edges here and there on these crops."
Too warm
He indicates that two weeks ago they had a day with 36 degrees Celsius. "Lettuce plants just can't handle temperatures above 28/29 degrees. You can water them as much as you want, but they'll wilt. The leaves that touch the hot ground will definitely burn."
Price disappointing
Besides losses and damage in lettuce, there is another downside. "The price often goes up when there is a lower volume. Even that isn't happening. The prices have been low all season. There have been some exceptions here and there, but the product was never expensive. We have a lot of worries as growers, there is extra work and costs attached to the products at the moment, which we won't get back. We thankfully still had water, but in some parts of Belgium the situation is even worse. In West-Flanders there is even a ban on pumping water for irrigation. Whole cultivations are being lost there and those producers are totally stuck. A lot less is being supplied in Flanders. Yet the kilos are being made by many growers. Due to the warm weather and the water that needs to be used, the lettuce that was less affected by the heat is now heavy enough to compensate for the lost crops."
Low prices
Ortwin indicates that the price before the weekend was an exceptional 30 cents for heads of lettuce, but that it has now gone down to 17/18 cents. "Romaine lettuce was also 30 cents on Friday, but has declined quite a bit since them. There is also little interest in other lettuce varieties. In Belgium the Netherlands, England and Germany the trade is completely jammed. There is slightly more going to France. This is because a lot of people visit our neighbours on holiday. We send the lettuce after them."
Growing
Running a cultivation company can be frustrating at times. "What I notice is that the best lettuce is often worth the least. If you grow good lettuce, the conditions are often good and most producers have a lot of products of good quality. Due to the large volume the price is low. If the lettuce is ugly and the growing conditions were bad, this is often the case among other producers. This means the volume is low and the price often high as everyone is demanding. A few edges or some damage matters less to buyers. As a grower you have to take a lot into account and anticipate worst case scenarios."
You can't control it
The producer indicates that growing is also a matter of luck. "There are often moments in the season when you can make a certain price, but you never know exactly when this is going to be. Sometimes it's at the start of the season if Spain stops early and no one else has started yet. You can't control it, or we would." This year doesn't look great so far. "The season isn't over yet, but we need a good moment. Right now it's the holiday period and a lot of people are gone. Sometimes it pulls up in August and the fall, so that's what we're hoping for."
For more information:
Crotoni BVBA
Neerloop 5A
2500 Lier - Belgium
GSM: +32 473 448071
ortwin@crotoni.be
www.crotoni.be