The pandemic is also causing problems for farmers, and there are mainly problems with seasonal workers and harvest workers. And the weather is going crazy again in many places. Even 2020 will not be a year to celebrate for many farmers.
Berlin (AP) - German farmers take stock of this year's harvest on Tuesday in Berlin. It is already clear that at least in some regions they had to suffer from drought and heat again this year - but late frosts and heavy rain also set in in some places.
The President of the German Farmers' Association, Joachim Rukwied, and Vice President Wolfgang Vogel want to go beyond the mere figures and talk about the problems farmers are currently facing - and how the farms can be protected against the increasing risks that climate change brings for the harvests.
With a view to the grain harvest, Rukwied had already predicted slightly below average results in June - and complained about an "insane spread of crop yields in the various regions in Germany". While the south can expect good yields, it is more problematic in the east due to prolonged drought.
After a relatively great drought in spring, intermittent rain has improved the situation regionally this year. In some regions, however, animal feed stocks are again scarce, also because of the poorer harvests in the two drought years of 2018 and 2019. As in the two previous years, farmers should therefore again be able to use additional areas for which there are actually restrictions on environmental protection, as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture explained .
After all, the fruit juice industry was already optimistic about the yields of the orchards. Fruit juice manufacturers are expecting a harvest of around 850,000 tons - around four times as much as in 2019. The decisive factor was the rainfall in June, the industry announced. However, in the Lake Constance region, for example, there is a lack of harvest workers due to the corona pandemic.
After all, it's not just the weather that troubles farmers. It doesn't work without harvest workers, who mostly come from Eastern Europe. Urgent exception rules helped, but certain entry restrictions, test obligations and requirements for hygiene and distance make employment more complicated this year. Above all slaughterhouses made negative headlines, but many seasonal workers on a vegetable farm and employees of an asparagus farm in Bavaria also tested positive.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the shortage of foreign workers is also the reason why the asparagus harvest this year is likely to be significantly lower than in 2019. According to preliminary data from the authority, the asparagus harvest fell by 19 percent. The crisis had also shaken up the sales markets - for example because the restaurants were closed for so long.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200818-99-207144 / 2