Agriculture in Styria has been hit hard by the rain chaos, with damage amounting to more than four million euros. Hop farmers in particular have to fear for their livelihood.
No, he has never experienced destruction on this scale before, says Richard Stelzl to the “Krone”. On Saturday, Southern Styria had to watch as terrible storms destroyed its entire hop crop within minutes.
“At first we hoped to be spared, but then the wind changed and the hail came,” says the chairman of the Styrian hop farmers.
Almost all the shoot tips of his plants were knocked off by the projectiles, which were up to three centimeters in size – and the same happened to all other hop farmers from Leutschach. Is the Styrian beer region now at risk of a total failure of the ingredient essential to the brewing process?
A total of 80 hectares have been affected
“Almost all cultivated areas in our region are affected. About 80 of the total 110 hectares were affected. “We can only hope that the plants will sprout again and that we can save at least a fraction of the harvest,” Stelzl hopes.
Breweries have sufficient supplies
In any case, beer lovers don’t have to worry too much. “Because our breweries have a supply for a year and a half. The disruptions have no impact on the consumer,” explains Gabriele Straka of the Brauunion. South Styrian hops are used for Gösser and the Vintage Pils from Reininghaus. Surpluses also end up in Puntigamer and Schwechater, “but that will probably not be the case this year,” says Stelzl.
The residents of Leutschach have not been so spoiled with the harvest in recent years. “It was just too humid for that. In a good year we are talking about a total harvest of 200 tons, this year everything should come together so that perhaps another 100 tons will be added,” says the South Styrian realistically. The hop farmers expect a loss of 800,000 euros this year.
The hail insurance estimates the damage to agriculture as a whole due to the storms of the past few days at 4.4 million euros. The floods had catastrophic consequences, especially in eastern and southern Styria.
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.
