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There are also crop circles in Germany, here in southern Germany near Munich
Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE/ AFP
Crop circles cause tens of thousands of euros in damage in Britain.
According to an analysis by The Guardian, crop circles have affected more than 40 soccer fields since 2018.
Farmers have recorded around 92 crop circles in the past four years.
That is damage of 30,000 pounds sterling (around 34,000 euros).
The grain lost was equivalent to 300,000 loaves of bread, and around 600 liters of rapeseed oil could have been produced from the flattened rapeseed.
Crop circles are created by folding, bending or mowing the stalks of grain according to a specific pattern.
The circles formed in this way are usually only recognizable from the air.
According to conspiracy myths, the crop circles are supposed to be formed by extraterrestrials.
In the meantime, those who are interested in crop circles have even founded their own small branch of research - they explore the phenomena within the framework of cerealology or crop circle science.
However, in times of the global food crisis, the deformation of grain fields takes on a whole new meaning.
Grain prices have skyrocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Both countries are important grain suppliers for the world market.
But the drought in Europe and the USA also drove the price up in the past few months.
The price of wheat has risen by up to 30 percent since 2021, and by up to 40 percent for barley.
The damage to farmers is therefore greater.
According to the Guardian, at least English farmers are "not amused": "They destroyed all the wheat, about three or four tons of it," George Hosford, a farmer in North Dorset, told the London newspaper.
He reported a crop circle with a diameter of 70 meters in July.
"Of course I don't think aliens are making this rubbish," Hosford told the Guardian.
"These circles are made by people using ropes, planks and ladders to flatten parts of the crops - and usually wheat is good for this because it's fine and upright."
The damage to the field is then increased by the so-called crop circle tourists, who continue to trample the grain flat, says the farmer.
Harvesting the flattened stalks later is no longer possible.
Insurance companies would not pay for such damage either - unless the farmers pay high contributions.
In Germany, too, there is a loss of income due to crop circle fans: Especially in Upper Bavaria, there have been patterns in grain fields again and again in recent years.
In Brandenburg, on the other hand, a huge swastika was mowed into a grain field in July of this year.
so called
