Grower Visit to Holland

November 2007 the Seed Division of the Higgins Group took 8 seed growers to Holland for a 3 day visit looking at Dutch Seed Production Systems.



The visit started out at NAK in Emmeloord, an extremely useful visit as it highlighted the work that goes on behind the scenes in the Dutch certification system.



HZPC breeding station at Metslawier was the next stop, where Robert Graveland, Manager, explained their potato breeding process, whilst showing the party around the site.



Moving on to the farm of Mr Van de Zee, the party were very impressed by his �state of the art� equipment and storage, far in excess of what you would expect on an average farm. It is obvious that Mr Van de Zee is a successful potato breeder.



Steins was the next stop on the busy itinerary, where HZPC have a storage and grading centre. Normally a hive of activity in November, but the current policy of �on farm� grading has meant that they now use this to cover peak loading times only.



The final visit of the tour was to another potato breeder, Mr Piet Smeenge, where an exhibition of varieties was on display in his barn. Several of the growers were amazed at the number of varieties, particularly as they were predominantly Piet`s own crosses.