According to the Austrian hail insurer, the late frost of the past fourteen days has caused a total of 56 million euros in damage to local fruit and wine growers. Styria was hardest hit with 37 million, followed by Lower Austria with 17 million.
“About 50 percent of the Styrian fruit growing area is affected, but overall we expect a normal harvest,” says Herbert Muster of the Styrian Chamber of Agriculture. Because soon it will be warmer again.
“Significant damage”
“There was significant damage, especially during the night from Sunday to Monday,” Muster, responsible for the chamber’s core fruit advice, said on Friday. Temperatures were particularly low in the eastern Styrian district of Weiz, where most of Styria’s fruit growers are located. There, apples, which are currently only the size of a marble, make up 80 percent of the orchard surface.
“The favorable flowering weather beforehand resulted in strong flowering, which somewhat compensates for the whole,” Muster explains to the APA. He expects “loss of quality in some cases”. Lower altitudes in particular sometimes face total failures, although antifreeze rain and heating could have prevented worse.
Styria as a “hotspot”
The late frost on Thursday afternoon had caused damage of 56 million euros throughout Austria within two weeks, the hail insurer announced on Friday. Of this, 44 million goes to fruit growing, the rest to wine. The ‘hotspot’ was Styria, with 32 million euros in damage to the fruit sector and five million euros to the wine sector. In addition to Lower Austria (17 million euros), a damage amount of two million euros was reported in the other federal states.
Frost was also predicted for Friday evening. “With temperatures down to minus two degrees, we were on the border where not too much happened,” Muster said with relief. It is expected to get warmer again in the coming days. Muster hopes “that’s it for this season.”
According to the Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Austria (LK NÖ), Friday evening was probably “not as bad as feared” for wine and fruit growers in the state. There were only freezing temperatures in the morning. Investigations are underway, said Manfred Weinhappel of the Chamber. A more detailed overview will be available early next week. There are no signs of a disastrous situation.
Hoping for “the last icy night”
Weinhappel was not the only one who hoped on Friday that the previous hours had brought “the last night of frost” of spring. There are companies that have “little to no problems” due to their location, while others, for example in vulnerable locations, have been hit harder. When it comes to fruit growing, Lower Austria is not affected to the same extent as Styria, Weinhappel said.
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.
