Field work in Holland update 30/12 Case IH dealership pix page 21

[Tractorman810]

great pics erik, you certainly get to see some kit round your way

[archbarch]

some very impressive kit on show

[ertlerik]

Erik, how are farmers currenty coping in the Flevo with the wet weather? I heard some had already started to plough their onions under that got left on the land.

Niels,  just got back from the USA, i know it is bad at some places but did not hear about plowing under onions so far, but i just got back, i do know that some potatoes will not be harvested becouse of rotting, it is a strange year for sure.

[ertlerik]

It is a strange fall, the end of November and still potatoes are beeing harvested.

3 4row machines in one field, 2 Grimme GV3000's and a Amac ZM4

[ertlerik]

[ertlerik]

[ertlerik]

And some ploughing

[ertlerik]

[ertlerik]

[The Tractor Twitcher]

Nice update Erik some lovely photographs you've taken, really like the pair of Steyrs you've captured ploughing. My favourite picture though is the very final one from the set with the New Holland TM ploughing with the furrow cracker attachment and wind turbines in the background, great stuff. 

[Light Land]

2nd that.

[Niels]

Erik you lazy man! Couldn't even be bothered to step out of your car  . Were those potatoes from Jan Bakker?

[ertlerik]

Erik you lazy man! Couldn't even be bothered to step out of your car  . Were those potatoes from Jan Bakker?

Not sure if those potatoes are from Jan Bakker, I know the NH with Grimme is his, this land is from PPO near Lelystad

Found a nice JD 8520T with Kverneland near Dronten today.

[jakescot]

I have had this discussion with friends several times recently, we always end up never resolving it and I keep forgetting to ask anyone on here but given the size of all the kit that seems to be going round in Holland and the cost of it all how do farmers make a  decent living.........how many hectares do lots of these farms have and does anyone also know the sort of average size of farms in Holland  overall?........ certainly must be something very different from a lot of the uk I`d suggest. We are all in the EU so commodity prices shouldn`t be wildly different, I know there will be currency issues but even still.......I`m confused  anyone care to enlighten me, thanks

[Niels]

I doubt many, if any, Dutch farmers would be able to reply to your questions Jake! I certainly haven't got a clue and keeping wondering about it myself. But Erik photo's in the Flevo polders and farmers over there are mad for metal! Relatively few cereal crops are grown in that region, mainly high profitable crops such as potatoes, onions and flower bulbs (tulips) with high yields as well. Some years they cost the farmer money, other years (2009/2010) they're worth a fortune. Farm sizes in the Flevo, as in other Dutch arable areas, range from 50 ha up to 500 (123 - 1200 acres) although 250 acres is regard as a 'normal' arable farm nowadays.

Dutch farms have always ran big and new kit and farmers have a thing for machinery, looking after them very well and investing in new technology. Holland has over 17.000 tractors running on RTK-GPS (2cm accuracy steering) whereas the UK has something like 7/8000 IIRC. And all our fields are square! Same with contractors. Every village has one or two contractors at least, many a lot more. Plus that is not counting all those farmers which contractor for neighbours. Compared to the UK, how many contractors do you know? Especially in East Anglia where there's hardly any grass for example.

[jakescot]

thank you Niels, yes I seem to recall previously hearing that Dutch farmers loved their kit and yes I Take your point, we are talking  high end arable & veg land  as opposed to my somewhat mediocre mix of reasonable to rubbish land.My best ground I doubt even comes close to the quality of the poorest polder land.On a similar thread interestingly, the advisory service sent out some info recently saying US ranchers or stock farmers are being encouraged to "ditch the iron" in order to reduce costs.....I accept theres no comparison  in style of farming  and thats probably as extreme a difference as you can get......it`s just different ways of trying to  make a living in our chosen industry.

Oh and sorry Erik some great pics I do like seeing these pics of  big modern machines at work.

I`m just now wondering if thats why there are so many model collectors in holland and why they make models of this kit because they love their tractors so much  its what they are used to seeing.

[Manor Farm]

Nice soil you have over there. Theres no stones

[ertlerik]

thank you Niels, yes I seem to recall previously hearing that Dutch farmers loved their kit and yes I Take your point, we are talking  high end arable & veg land  as opposed to my somewhat mediocre mix of reasonable to rubbish land.My best ground I doubt even comes close to the quality of the poorest polder land.On a similar thread interestingly, the advisory service sent out some info recently saying US ranchers or stock farmers are being encouraged to "ditch the iron" in order to reduce costs.....I accept theres no comparison  in style of farming  and thats probably as extreme a difference as you can get......it`s just different ways of trying to  make a living in our chosen industry.

Oh and sorry Erik some great pictures I do like seeing these pictures of  big modern machines at work.

I`m just now wondering if thats why there are so many model collectors in holland and why they make models of this kit because they love their tractors so much  its what they are used to seeing.

Niels could have not said it better, so yes lots of nice modern machines here, but more importend very good soil that grows everything a farmer would want.

And one more thing, the machinery cost per hectare is not the problem around here, it is the price of a hectare that makes it difficult 

[BigX500]

I doubt many, if any, Dutch farmers would be able to reply to your questions Jake! I certainly haven't got a clue and keeping wondering about it myself. But Erik photo's in the Flevo polders and farmers over there are mad for metal! Relatively few cereal crops are grown in that region, mainly high profitable crops such as potatoes, onions and flower bulbs (tulips) with high yields as well. Some years they cost the farmer money, other years (2009/2010) they're worth a fortune. Farm sizes in the Flevo, as in other Dutch arable areas, range from 50 ha up to 500 (123 - 1200 acres) although 250 acres is regard as a 'normal' arable farm nowadays.

Dutch farms have always ran big and new kit and farmers have a thing for machinery, looking after them very well and investing in new technology. Holland has over 17.000 tractors running on RTK-GPS (2cm accuracy steering) whereas the UK has something like 7/8000 IIRC. And all our fields are square! Same with contractors. Every village has one or two contractors at least, many a lot more. Plus that is not counting all those farmers which contractor for neighbours. Compared to the UK, how many contractors do you know? Especially in East Anglia where there's hardly any grass for example.

  I wished there was only a couple of contractors in our village

[jakescot]

Niels could have not said it better, so yes lots of nice modern machines here, but more importend very good soil that grows everything a farmer would want.

And one more thing, the machinery cost per hectare is not the problem around here, it is the price of a hectare that makes it difficult 

Thank you too Erik,I accept that yes.so go on then frighten me......   ...........how much for land in holland .......

round by me, the very best land perhaps coastal,certainly in close proximity to a dairy farm  £ 6000 per acre is there or thereabouts .middle of the road stuff depending on location again probably in the region of £ 3500. my stuff , should mine come up for sale would average out at £2500 to £2800.bearing in mind that would depend on me giving up the lease and it be available with vacant possession

[ertlerik]

Thank you too Erik,I accept that yes.so go on then frighten me......   ...........how much for land in holland .......

round by me, the very best land perhaps coastal,certainly in close proximity to a dairy farm  £ 6000 per acre is there or thereabouts .middle of the road stuff depending on location again probably in the region of £ 3500. my stuff , should mine come up for sale would average out at £2500 to £2800.bearing in mind that would depend on me giving up the lease and it be available with vacant possession

Around here 75000 Euro for a Hectare, and no that is not a zero to much    a hectare is 2.5 acre

[jakescot]

ok so perhaps now I get it      yes 2.47 acres to the ha  .......one and a half hectares buys a bloomin nice big  top of the range fendt

[Deere-est]

Yes Erik, lovely photos! Very wet harvesting conditions like you said. Was the road like a dirt track afterwards?!! I also like the Steyr with the very shiny plough bodies, some nice clean going for that guy. All the guys ploughing look as if they are ploughing very deep too. As for the JD with the 7 furrow, mounted in land plough. ... I bet that is heavy!

[Pingu]

Great pictures wish had a deere that size on our plough, and they are heavy tris over 3 ton metal well thats what headstock says on ours

[Niels]

ok so perhaps now I get it      yes 2.47 acres to the ha  .......one and a half hectares buys a bloomin nice big  top of the range fendt

Flevo is top notch soil of course, you can't get any better. In the South-West (also decent clay soil) prices range from €50.000 up to 65.000 per hectare (£16.000 - £20.500 per acre). That does include no stones, easily workable, lots of topsoil, good drainage and plenty of fresh water for irrigating. Considering Holland has some of the highest productive farmland in the world it's a silly idea really that, in general, it either gets flooded, build up or returned to mother nature. But the few acres we have over here (2,4 million acres of arable land) compared to over 18 million hectares in the UK (farmland in general not purely arable) is nothing really. We're a stamp country.