Good grain harvest, but: Falling costs and greater losses because of pest infestation

The cultivation of wintry weather rape, grain peas, oil pumpkin and also sugar beet is turning into an increasing number of unprofitable in Austria

The amount is proper, but not the rate. According to the forecast by using the Chamber of Agriculture, the harvest this 12 months must be simply over 3 million tons of grain. That is an growth of four.5 percentage as compared to the 5-12 months common and an increase of 2.1 percentage as compared to the previous 12 months.

However, grain prices had been falling progressively for the reason that end of last yr. A ton of wheat currently fees 231 euros on the Paris commodity futures trade Euronext. At the start of the Ukraine warfare, the charge of wheat rose to simply beneath 440 euros.

In addition, the expenses for operating resources along with gasoline or fertilizer have been very excessive and in a few cases still are.

The joy approximately the coolest harvest forecast is therefore limited. “The temper of the farmers is in the basement,” reports Chamber of Agriculture President Josef Moosbrugger.

Cereals from Ukraine

The reason for the drop in expenses is grain exports from Ukraine to the EU. Actually, the grain is destined for Africa and the Middle East. Even if the quantities that come immediately to Austria aren't very high, the fees in this united states of america are also falling because of the not unusual EU market. Moosbrugger pledged his team spirit with Ukraine, but the grain must additionally arrive where it changed into meant, specifically in Africa.

Another problem of domestic agriculture are the very excessive crop failures in a few vegetation. The EU Commission has banned using some plant safety merchandise. As a end result, around five,000 hectares of sugar beet had been destroyed by the weevil. 10,000 hectares of oil pumpkin, that's used for the production of pumpkin seed oil, have been broken. Both sugar beet and oil pumpkin seeds were dealt with with early pesticides that have now been banned in the EU. In the case of rapeseed, the area below cultivation has been declining for years because of crop screw ups.

Rigorous prohibitions

“The rigorous bans suggest that precious plants such as sugar beet, grain peas, winter rape or oil pumpkin are hardly or not good value,” criticizes Moosbrugger.

Added to this are the increasingly common freak climate conditions. Extremely high stages of precipitation comply with drought and long periods of heat. “The damp climate additionally caused strong fungus strain,” reports the President of the Burgenland Chamber of Agriculture, Niki Berlakovich. “Especially when the temperatures were given a bit warmer again, the pressure from infections with extraordinary leaf sicknesses have become extraordinarily sturdy.”

The farmers’ representatives wish that new breeding methods including genetic scissors will help to make sure that there will be sorts within the destiny that are extensively greater resistant to both severe climate conditions and numerous pests.