Flemish farmers in Belgium grow more potatoes and grain

The cultivation of consumption potatoes in Flanders, Belgium, increased by 7.1% to 55,726 hectares. This is partly at the expense of seed potato cultivation, which decreases by 4.8% to 1,367 hectares. The high demand for potatoes by the Belgian industry and the subsequent high prices have encouraged growers to plant more consumption potatoes. Grow cereal area The growth of the grain area will follow the high grain prices in 2022. This is particularly reflected in the strong growth in winter grains. The cultivation of winter wheat has increased by 15% to almost 71,000 hectares. The winter barley area is increasing even more; by 21% to 17,600 hectares. However, grain prices have fallen sharply in recent months, which in turn has had an impact on the cultivation of summer grains. Spring wheat is only growing on 584 hectares (-65%) and spring barley on 886 hectares (-48%). The total cereal area in Flanders this year is 96,086 hectares (+12.8%). The cultivation of sugar beet is picking ...