Climate change and the associated erratic weather are putting increasing pressure on local farmers. Due to the difficult weather conditions, harvest volumes of potatoes, for example, were lower this year than last year. Added to this is the tense cost situation. “Austria’s self-sufficiency in important foodstuffs such as potatoes is now clearly at risk,” warns Josef Moosbrugger, president of the Chamber of Agriculture.
The relatively cool and rainy phase in April and May led to problems with sowing and germination of summer crops such as corn, the Chamber of Agriculture said. In addition, the heat phase in June and July also hampered the development of some plant species.
A fifth fewer potatoes than last year
Potato production in particular suffered. More than 528,000 tons were harvested this year, which corresponds to a decrease of 22 percent compared to the previous year. According to the Chamber of Agriculture, a damaging mix of rain and heat has occurred here: while the tubers partially rot in the moist soil, the heat and drought in summer reduced tuber formation. But the cultivated area has also fallen from 21,500 hectares to 19,000 hectares.
The harvest of oil pumpkins, which form the basis for pumpkin seed oil, has also fallen sharply. The crop was grown on 30,000 hectares this year, after about 38,000 hectares last year (minus 20.6 percent). The harvest volume was 16,000 tons, 42 percent below last year’s level. The humid conditions also had a major impact on the pumpkins.
The corn harvest was about the same as last year at 2.1 million tons, but this represents a decrease of 6.8 percent compared to the five-year average. The cultivated area remained relatively constant at 210,000 hectares. For grain, there were generally no significant increases or losses: harvest volume was 3.02 million tons, compared to 3 million tons the year before.
Soy and sunflower are particularly resistant to heat
This year things went better for the soy farmers. Although the area was smaller, the harvest increased sharply (plus 7.3 percent) with a yield of 264,000 tons. The plant is considered particularly heat-resistant. Sunflowers can handle the heat just as well; the harvest volume increased by 15 percent to almost 65,000 tons. The beet harvest also increased slightly due to a larger area, but this could only be achieved through major efforts against pests.
“The situation in potato, pumpkin and sugar cultivation is becoming increasingly difficult. The reasons are, on the one hand, climate change with heat and drought and the resulting lower yields. “But pest pressure is also increasing, while there are fewer and fewer options to protect seeds and young plants against diseases and pests,” says Moosbrugger about the development. Without pest control products, potato cultivation is no longer worthwhile for many companies, he criticized.
Once again the chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture pointed to the economic situation. Producer prices have fallen recently, but costs for raw materials such as fertilizer remain high. “At a time when revenues were declining due to lower product prices, input prices were not declining at the same rate.” In 2022, agricultural company profits rose sharply. However, from an industry perspective, this represents a necessary correction after many years of lower increases or stagnation.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
