The extremely mild winter weather gives agriculture an advantage. Greengrocers are happy with this. But fruit growers fear later frosts, when, as in many parts of the country, very early flowering begins.
For example, in the important Upper Austrian vegetable growing area of the Eferdinger Basin, the first lettuce varieties were planted last week, ORF-Upper Austria reports online.
Greengrocers see ‘competitive advantage’
According to the report, vegetable grower Martin Gammer speaks of a “competitive advantage” because the weather is too hot for weeks: “As a result, domestic production is represented in supermarkets much earlier.
And that means you don’t have to buy imported goods.” Subsequently, 80,000 small kohlrabi, cabbage and cauliflower plants are planted at Gammer.
Good year or disaster for fruit
However, fruit farmer Franz Allerstorfer has mixed feelings about the early beginnings of nature. The first buds of his fruit trees are currently opening, three weeks earlier than usual. “The earlier flowering takes place, the greater the chance of late frost,” says Allerstorfer. “Because at minus four to six degrees, a significant part of the harvest freezes.”
Stone fruits such as apricots, cherries and plums in particular can suffer from such late frosts. In recent years, this has also been the case again and again in larger cultivation areas in Lower Austria and Styria. Without a winter with frost, this year could be a good fruit year, they say.
Source: Krone
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