Knee-high watercress from one field should cover Denmark's entire organic needs

Recently, Søren Bilstrup actually went to the field southwest of Skive to harvest watercress. But now, storm and water have knocked the watercress down to knee height. "It's lying down now, and it's rare for us to see that. Fortunately, not completely on the ground, but enough to fear that the watercress might start to sprout if it gets wet during harvest. And we know what sprouting watercress looks like," says Søren Bilstrup with a smile as he walks through the field in a strong west wind. Eight hectares cover Denmark. He is an organic crop farmer, and his eight hectares of watercress are probably the only organic watercress field cultivated in Denmark this year. Søren Bilstrup has been making contracts for over 15 years, making him a supplier of the content in the small seed packets we all know—those sprinkled over wet cotton wool to see them sprout. Although the weather has made the watercress knee-high, he is optimistic about this year's harvest and does not expect it to be a problem to cut the watercress. "It has looked incredibly good this year," he notes. The watercress plant consists of long, green stems with many capsules that, when mature, contain the well-known small seeds. At the beginning of June, the seeds have not yet developed, and the capsules are green. At Søren Bilstrup's, the watercress covers eight hectares, according to an agreement with Jensen Seeds in Funen, and this year he is the only supplier because last year's harvest yield was exceptionally good. Therefore, the demand is now lower. "When we have good years, some are stored, and then there's plenty the following year, so we also plant fewer areas. It's also a good way to control the market so that overproduction doesn't happen," explains Michael Rose Jensen, a consultant at Jensen Seeds. All seeds are exported. This year's yield from the field near Skive covers the entire company's Danish organic watercress production—and everything is exported. "Nothing goes to the Danish market. Typically, we export to countries like Germany and the Netherlands," says Michael Rose Jensen. Small batches of seeds may end up back on the Danish market, but this is very limited. Søren Bilstrup is now one of Denmark's most experienced watercress growers, and he describes cultivation as both somewhat difficult and somewhat simple. "It's about giving the plant the fertilizer it needs, at the right time—and then simply keeping it clean," he explains. Søren Bilstrup grows many different crops, but watercress is the one that needs the most raking because it is relatively weak early in the growing season. Later, it grows tall and dense. There can naturally be fluctuations in yield, but over the years, he has gained so much experience that it no longer varies much. Harvesting often takes place in close cooperation with consultant Michael Rose Jensen from Jensen Seeds, and before harvest, many pictures can be exchanged when samples are taken during the test harvest. They can also review this together over FaceTime before agreeing to start the harvest. Record in 2025. In 2025, he had a record yield. If Søren Bilstrup can produce an average of 1,000 kg per hectare, he is very satisfied. Last year, they reached about 1,300–1,400 kg, while in other years, the yield has been as low as 600 kg of watercress seeds per hectare. Typically, the watercress is cut for drying 10–14 days before harvest. Once the harvest is complete, the seeds are dried in the farm's drying facilities. Around the turn of the year, the seeds are transported to Jensen Seeds' highly advanced cleaning facility in Funen, where they are cleaned before the watercress seeds are sent to the market. "It's very important that the watercress seeds are as clean as possible when we receive them, so we avoid waste," emphasizes Michael Rose Jensen. "A lot of money has been invested in the best technology, but it doesn't change the fact that the fields must be in order to produce a good final product." If there are too many weed seeds among the watercress seeds, some seeds are lost in the harsh sorting process. "Typically, every time you remove a weed seed, you lose one or two good seeds," he explains. Although weeds sprout through the watercress plants at Søren Bilstrup's, he is satisfied with the weed pressure this year. But it has also cost many hours of work. "It's the crop we're most attentive to when it comes to raking— we're really on it," he assures. High-risk crop. Søren Bilstrup is not keen on discussing prices and business, but he says, "the price isn't so bad after all." "It's really a high-value crop—but it's also a high-risk crop," he states. If the harvest fails at first, there is no alternative way to utilize the crop, as there would be with, for example, bread grains. Then, the crop could still be used as animal feed. "If it goes wrong, you have nothing to use it for. It just can't fail," he says, gesturing towards the watercress in the middle of the field. At Jensen Seeds, organic watercress is normally cultivated on a total of 50 hectares across the country, so it's not a large market. But it is a market where demand fluctuates between organic and conventional. As always, the market dictates, explains Michael Rose Jensen. "It varies a bit between organic and conventional. A few years ago, everything had to be organic, but right now, it's about half and half."