CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Danish starch industry invests in cutting chain costs COLLABORATION MEANS A BIG IMPROVEMENT To get an impression of a Danish starch company, the jovial Skeel shows us round his own farm. It is a typical old Danish crop farm, a farmhouse with a courtyard, as we sometimes also find in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg. Beautifully maintained, with a huge driveway where, if you just think away the modern tractors, you imagine yourself in the year 1200. This is also the year when the farmhouse was built, at a strategic location next to the river. Today, in 2010, it is a very large crop farm with 2,300 hectares of arable land. Annually, 300 hectares of starch potatoes and seed for the farm’s own propagation is grown. Despite the size, Skeel works together with his neighbour. He experiences this partnership as a big improvement. ‘Work is much more efficient, you need fewer machines, you can find more depth in your work and you can allocate tasks according to everyone’s capabilities.’ So, Skeel does more of the finances and his neighbour takes care of the crops. According to Skeel, this collaboration has already led to a cost reduction of 20 percent. Reducing temporary farmhands When we are shown round the machinery and the stores, Skeel says that stones, clods, mother tubers and foliage are problems that cause extra costs at the factory. To combat these problems as much as possible, the growers always need temporary farmhands to remove the majority of the tare while lifting. This means extra costs such as organising the labour. Skeel keeps one-third of the potatoes for himself, the remainder is delivered directly from the farm. Currently, many growers are investing in professional storage. Many farmers still store their starch potatoes in heaps under plastic, but this is too labour-intensive. Moreover, the potatoes often get soiled during loading, because the soil around the heaps is often soggy and muddy, according to Skeel. He also has a modern storeroom himself for box storage, but it is only used for his own seed potatoes. Whether he is going to invest soon in storage for the industrial potatoes, he dare not yet say. The AKV factory works flat out, from September to December. After 2013, the cooperative wants to extend this period. the special crop allowance will make starch potato growing a lot more difficult financially.’ Hence AKV’s emphasis in reducing the chain costs for the members of the cooperative. ‘It is still necessary for starch potato growing to be financially profitable; otherwise growers will change over to other crops.’ The climate in Denmark is, in fact, particularly suitable for the cultivation of cereals and grasses, this is clear when you see the endless fields of winter wheat and grass seed. Jørgen Skeel’s farm is a typical old Danish crop farm, a farmhouse with a courtyard, as we sometimes also find in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg. Silos brim-full ‘The world market currently shows an overproduction of starch products of 10 to 15 percent’, AKV general manager Niels Eriksen tells us. ‘This was the reason for the extremely low prices during 2008 and 2009. Fortunately, they are back to normal again this year. There are fewer potatoes available now and many starch industries have sold their stocks. Contrary to many of our competitors, our cooperative has full silos, and has a free hand in the market. The decision to maintain full silos was already taken in 2009. We are benefiting from that today. It doesn’t change the fact, however, that you never know what the market price for starch will do. And that is why a grower must work as cost-efficiently as possible. This at least guarantees a yield that covers by the cost price, and a result that improves when the market picks up. This is not a simple project for the Danes, however. Around 40 percent of Danish farmers grow starch potatoes in stony soil. This means that these farmers have to go out and remove stones from the topsoil at the beginning of every season. It requires significant investment in time and money. In addition, it means 18 Potato World 2011 • number 1 Pagina 17
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