# Autumn work on the farm: what we do in Żuławy after the harvest

Autumn work on our farm in Żuławy: onions in our 13,000-tonne store, the last lifting, fields after harvest and 87 machines. See what we do.

After the harvest the work on the farm doesn't slow down, it just moves: from the field to the store and onto the sorting line. In autumn we store and sort onions, finish lifting potatoes and beet, and get the fields ready for the next season. We show what this looks like for us in Żuławy and what it means for customers who buy from us all year round.

## Autumn on the farm at a glance

We farm more than 800 ha, including about 400 ha of vegetables, and we grow onions on about 250 ha. At this scale autumn means several fronts of work running side by side, not one job after another.

| Area | What we do in autumn | With what |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Onions | we dry and store them, sort and pack them to order | store for 13,000 tonnes, DOWNS CropVision, packing line with a palletiser |
| Potatoes and beet | we finish the harvest, sort the crop | AVR Puma 3 harvester, our own beet equipment, DOWNS CropVision |

## Onions in store: the most important weeks of the year

This year's onions are already in our store for 13,000 tonnes. After harvest we dry them for 2-4 days, and then controlled ventilation keeps the skins dry and the onions healthy for many months. That lets us control sales over time and ship the crop all year round, not just after harvest.

The season opens with onions from sets, which come off the field as early as early summer. Then come the spring-sown onions, and the store covers the rest of the year. We describe the whole cycle, from sowing to the store, in our guide [onions from Żuławy: how we grow them](/blog/cebula-z-zulaw-jak-uprawiamy).

From the store the onions go to the DOWNS CropVision optical sorter. Cameras and artificial intelligence scan every onion through 360 degrees and reject stones, clods of soil and defective onions, up to 100 tonnes an hour. Then the automated line packs the onions loose, in big bags or in 15 kg, 10 kg and smaller sacks, and the palletiser stacks the finished packs.

{% captionedImage src="/images/galleryPage/5.webp" alt="An orange raschel net sack of onions with a Produkt Polski label on the packing line belt" caption="Onions from our store in a raschel net sack, straight off our packing line." /%}

{% callout tone="info" %}
Our store is built for onions, and it is what lets us supply onions all year round. We calculate the price based on current market prices, and on request we send a free sample.
{% /callout %}

## The last potatoes and beet come off the field

Our potatoes are lifted by our self-propelled AVR Puma 3 harvester. It works four rows at a time, and its 469 hp Volvo engine and 8-tonne bunker let it keep going without downtime, at night too. We lift the French fry varieties Innovator and Donata and the table varieties Twister, Bella Rosa, Joline and Gala. Innovator is the same variety Farm Frites makes its fries from.

We harvest red beet with our own equipment, each field at its own time. We mostly rely on the varieties Wodan, Monty, Chisel and Titan, which we choose for high brix, meaning a high sugar content, valued in processing. Potatoes and beet go through the same DOWNS CropVision sorter as the onions, so the customer gets an even, clean crop.

## Fields after harvest: crop rotation and cover crops

Onions came onto our farm to widen the crop rotation, and wheat is one of our main crops. How we tidy up a field after harvest and when we sow, we describe in our post on [what to sow after onions](/blog/pole-po-zbiorze-cebuli-siew-pszenicy-ozimej).

Żuławy alluvial soils are heavy, humus-rich soils that hold moisture well. The 2025 season showed how easily they compact: in July downpours brought 150-220 l/m2 in a single day, the drainage canals burst their banks, and the soil compacted.

A field after harvest also means eco-scheme deadlines. According to the [ARiMR page on winter cover crops for 2026](https://www.gov.pl/web/arimr/miedzyplony-ozime-lub-wsiewki-srodplonowe-2026), the practice consists of sowing winter cover crops from 1 July to 1 October and keeping them until at least 15 February of the year following the year the application is submitted. The same [ARiMR page](https://www.gov.pl/web/arimr/miedzyplony-ozime-lub-wsiewki-srodplonowe-2026) states that a winter cover crop sown as a mix must be made up of at least 2 plant species, excluding a mix made up of cereal species only. What cover gives alluvial soil after vegetables, we write about in our post on [cover crops after vegetables](/blog/miedzyplon-po-zbiorze-warzyw).

## Working heavy alluvial soil: what we take into the field

On alluvial soil every pass leaves a mark, so we pick our equipment so the soil loses as little as possible. The John Deere 8RX 410 runs on four tracks, and that way it compacts the soil less than a wheeled tractor.

We guide our machines with Trimble GPS navigation with RTK correction and the John Deere Auto Pilot system. We drive straight, pass after pass, with no overlaps or gaps, which saves seed, fertiliser and fuel.

## 87 machines in our park

We have 87 farm machines, and this season the ones at work included:

- **Grimme WV 180** undercut the onions in a 180 cm wide strip and laid them in even windrows,
- **AVR Puma 3** picked the onions up from the windrows and lifted the potatoes, unloading the crop on the move into trailers,
- **John Deere 6930 Premium** with a Wielton tridem trailer hauled the onions from the field,
- **Ecorobotix ARA**, a spot sprayer with 156 nozzles across 6 metres, sprayed only where the cameras detected weeds, cutting chemical doses by about 70%,
- **DOWNS CropVision** and the packing line keep working, because onions from the store go out to customers all winter.

We show all our machines, with specs and photos, under [machinery park](/park-maszynowy).

## What autumn means for customers

For a buyer at a packing house or processing plant, autumn with us is the moment the onions are already in store. Our vegetables go to companies such as Onix, Farm Frites and FreshPol, which supply the largest retail chains and processing plants in Poland and Europe.

We test every batch for pesticide residues, heavy metals and substances hazardous to health. We produce using residue-free technology, in line with the principles of Integrated Plant Production, and we work with GlobalG.A.P., GRASP, FSA Gold (Farm Sustainability Assessment) and GMP+ certificates.

You'll find varieties, sizes and packing formats in our offer for [Rijnsburger-type yellow onions](/oferta/cebula). If you want to set up deliveries for winter and spring, write to us through the [contact form](/kontakt): tell us the type, quantity and date, and we'll come back with availability and a price calculated based on current market prices.

## Frequently asked questions

### What autumn work is done on a farm after the harvest?

For us autumn means storing, sorting and packing onions and finishing the potato and beet harvest. After harvest we dry the onions for 2-4 days and keep them in our store for 13,000 tonnes.

### Can I buy onions from you after the season?

Yes. We ship onions from our store all year round, not just after harvest, and on request we send a free sample.

### By when does a winter cover crop have to be sown in the eco-scheme?

According to the [ARiMR page on winter cover crops for 2026](https://www.gov.pl/web/arimr/miedzyplony-ozime-lub-wsiewki-srodplonowe-2026), winter cover crops are sown from 1 July to 1 October and kept until at least 15 February of the year following the year the application is submitted.