Down to minus 4 degrees – Frost: “Light blue eye” for Austrian farmers

“There was no major damage,” the Lower Austria Chamber of Agriculture said at the request of APA. In the Wachau, numerous apricot farmers heated their gardens with stoves at night to save the harvest. Successfully, as Franz Reisinger, president of the association “Wachauer Marille gU” said: “We got away with light blue eyes.” Damage that was not yet clearly measurable was especially visible in exposed locations. Yet there can also be talk of “a very good harvest”.

Burgenland’s agriculture chamber said temperatures of -1 to -3 degrees shouldn’t have caused major damage, but it’s too early for a final assessment. The sensitive layers were partially heated.

Apple farmers fear no damage
The fruit growers from Styria have not yet found any serious frost damage on Monday. In apples, the blossom has not yet developed that far and the temperatures were not too low either. It was cloudy and there was high humidity, so the risk of frost damage was very low, it said at the request of APA. Some frozen blossoms were discovered on the apricot, but there were still plenty of healthy blossoms.

It was said of the Tyrolean Agricultural Chamber that the vegetation – for example in the case of the Stanzer Zwetschke – was not so advanced that the frost irrigation had to be turned on. The apricot is the most endangered, but in general they have “come well”. However, the coming weeks are crucial.

As a meadow orchard, Salzburg may have started relatively lightly, as most of the fruit trees are not yet in bloom. “If it does, then it has hit apricots or creepers,” says Johann Wesenauer, president of the Salzburg State Association for Fruit and Horticulture. At 800 meters above sea level, the temperature dropped to -6 degrees on Monday night, an apricot or creeping tree was in bloom, “then the blossom is broken”. However, the apricot trees would usually be on walls where they can be covered with fleece.

Frost is crucial for weakened bees
Temperatures could also be critical for weakened bee colonies, said Thomas Renner of the State Apiculture and Apiculture Association. If a colony is in danger, the beekeeper should feed it with sugar paste. In Salzburg, however, the drought would hinder the bees more than the cold, Renner said, because the drought reduced nectar flow.

The damage potential is low in Upper Austria, according to the Chamber of Agriculture. In arable farming, the sugar beets already sown are affected, but the extent will become clear in the coming days. “We’re talking about maybe ten percent of the total 7,500 hectares,” says Martin Beck of the arable division. In fruit growing, the minus 3 degrees temperature is “on the verge of damage,” says Heimo Strebl. At the moment there is no demonstrable damage, but whether this is actually the case remains to be seen, especially with sensitive stone fruit such as apricots.

Strawberry crops were covered
Also in Vorarlberg there was hardly any frost damage. Over the past few nights the temperatures were between -1 and -4 degrees and contrary to the forecast it was also cloudy on Monday night, “that helped enormously,” says Ulrich Höfert of the Agricultural Chamber. Early plums may be affected, as well as some cherries and pears. According to Höfert, he does not assume that major damage will be caused to the species and varieties that flower later. “Fortunately, we don’t have apricots in cultivation. Strawberries only bloomed in protected cultivation. The farmers covered the crops. That should have gone well,” said the expert.