Everything is ready for the onion harvest again!

It was that time again - a visit to one of our farmers near Lingen was on the agenda. We've been working together for at least 20 years and it shows. It was a lovely afternoon all round - a kind of family reunion. Many thanks for the warm welcome!

The storage areas are clean, all the equipment is ready and the onions are already in the field, waiting for it to dry out and the harvest can begin.

Before the onion ends up in our food, there is a lot to consider. As described last year, there is a lot of work involved with onions. And it starts a year in advance. The right fields have to be leased. Care must be taken to ensure that irrigation is possible. Growing onions without irrigation is almost unthinkable. Many pipes have to be laid and pumps connected. All irrigation stations have to be visited to check that everything is running. That can be as much as 100 km in one evening. Not every field is on your doorstep.

Harvesting requires many machines and belts, which also need to be purchased and maintained. You need clean storage areas that also need to be maintained. For example, an entire potato store is now sprayed and scrubbed with water at a temperature of at least 80°C to ensure that no residues of an active ingredient that is no longer approved are found in the product - and this after the last season, in which the potatoes suffered so many losses.

The field and the onions in the photo look really great and that makes us all happy. But that's not always the case everywhere. There is drought damage, damage caused by pests and disease. Even if the season wasn't quite as dry as in previous years, there will be problems again. We should all think about this when we are enjoying the good food on the table!